Man given whole life order for murdering two in Cornwall
James Desborough is now a serial killer having killed three men in separate incidents over five months
Last updated 6 hours ago
A fan of TV serial killer Dexter will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being sentenced for murdering two homeless men whose bodies were dismembered and hidden in woodland.
James Desborough, 40, was yesterday found guilty of killing Claudio Aquilino, 57, and Daniel Coleman, 43, weeks apart in Cornwall last year.
Today, a judge told him "You will never be released on parole".
The former builder is already serving a life sentence after he strangled his prison cellmate, Steven Kempster, 65, at HMP Exeter while on remand awaiting this trial, because of his snoring.
The triple murderer is now a serial killer having killed three men in separate incidents over five months.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court returned the unanimous guilty verdicts on Tuesday (28th July) after deliberating for three hours and 15 minutes.
“A series of unfortunate circumstances”
Mr Aquilino and Mr Coleman, who both suffered from long-term addictions, had previously lived with Desborough at a homeless hostel, and the last time they were both seen alive was in his company.
After their disappearances, Desborough, who is 5ft 10in and weighs nearly 18st, went on to spend their money on drugs and alcohol, and claimed they had both left Cornwall.
Their bodies were dismembered in an area of Sticker Woods, near St Austell, where Desborough lived in a wooden cabin.
It was there that police discovered, after five months of searches, 1,900 burned bone fragments from the body of Mr Aquilino deposited in a stream.
Parts of Mr Coleman’s body, including his torso, legs and feet, were found in a shallow grave nearby. His genitals have never been found and deliberate removal could not be excluded.
Prosecutors said Desborough was jealous of Mr Coleman because he had developed a sexual interest in his friend’s ex-wife, Hannah Creswell.
Desborough told a forensic biologist who was searching the woods for Mr Coleman’s body that he “particularly enjoyed the dismemberment scenes” in the television series Dexter.
Police found several handwritten notes inside Desborough’s cabin, including one headed: “Bug out list” and another: “Hostiles”.
He had also made plans to leave the UK weeks before he was arrested.
The father-of-one denied both murders and told the jury it was a “series of unfortunate circumstances” the two men died on his land within a short space of time.
He accepted then spending their money on beer and drugs, but told jurors: “They were friends, I got on well with them.”
Desborough, of Old Oak Woods, Lower Sticker, Cornwall, had previously pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of the two men’s bodies.
"Completely and utterly mortified"
Claudio Aquilino’s family said in a statement: “As a family, we are completely and utterly mortified in the violent murder of Claudio, and the manner in which his body was disposed.
“Claudio will always be in our thoughts and we now pray he is at peace.
“We as a family cannot thank Devon and Cornwall Police officers enough for all their support and care throughout this profoundly sad ordeal for the family.”
Daniel Coleman’s family said in a statement: “We, as a family, would like to thank the police, prosecution and everyone involved in getting justice for Dan.
“Dan was a loving, caring and compassionate man who will be forever loved and sadly missed.”
Searching Sticker Woods
Specialist teams and forensic scientists started their meticulous search of Sticker Woods on June 30 and continued their work until November 28 last year.
Devon and Cornwall Police teams covered 5sq km of woodland and watercourses, utilising 1,136 officer deployments.
The 175-day operational period equated to a combined total of 198,800 search hours.
Of these, 96,266 hours were dedicated to the search for human remains and potential further deposition sites.
This involved the painstaking removal of leaf litter to identify changes in soil composition and signs of ground disturbance.
Teams also carried out fingertip searches through dense laurel and bogland on their hands and knees.
The force worked closely with specialist colleagues from the National Search Centre, National Crime Agency, Environment Agency, fire service and archaeological experts.
The operation saw the first documented dammed watercourse diversion and high-assurance fingertip search of a watercourse bed.
This involved diverting the stream to enable the systematic sieving of 300 metres of its bed.
This element of the search required 104 officers working over a six-week period, contributing a combined total of 1,664 hours.
Gravel and sediment were carefully sieved to a depth of 2mm in order to identify even the smallest bone fragments and other evidential material.
Detective Superintendent Rachael Bentley, head of Devon & Cornwall Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “This was an extremely challenging and complex investigation, which required painstaking detective work and extremely detailed forensic examination in a challenging physical environment.”