After being found guilty of killing his wife today, a philandering pig farmer who had gotten away with murder for 40 years will now spend the rest of his life in prison.
In May 1982, David Venables, 89, killed his wife Brenda and dumped her body in their marital home’s sewage tank in Kempsey, Worcestershire.
He attempted to pin the crime on serial killer Fred West, but today the jury of seven men and five women found him guilty by a vote of 10-2 after deliberating for 16 hours and 43 minutes over the course of four days.
Venables, who had previously been permitted to sit next to his legal counsel, kept his composure but blinked many times when he heard the guilty judgement before turning to face the jury bench.
When Andrew Venables, who had purchased the farm from his uncle, drained a cesspit in 2019, he discovered Brenda’s skull and other bones. Initially, police had handled Brenda’s disappearance as a missing person investigation and had never checked the tank.
Trial judge Mrs. Justice Tipples called the case’s facts “tragic” and told the jury members they can seek counselling if the graphic evidence had damaged them.
The defence team for Venables claimed Fred West had connections to the Worcestershire village of Kempsey, where Brenda vanished in May 1982, during the pensioner’s month-long trial.
They also claimed Mrs Venables may have left her marital home at Quaking House Farm and ‘either killed herself or met with or encountered someone who wished her harm.’
Dismissing Venables’ defence as preposterous, Mr Burrows told the start of the trial: ‘The truth, say the prosecution, is that it was David Venables who killed her.
‘He wanted her out of the way – he wanted to resume his long-standing affair with another woman, Lorraine Styles.
‘He knew about the septic tank in its secluded location. It was for him almost the perfect hiding place.
‘It meant he didn’t have to travel and risk being seen making a suspicious journey around the time of her disappearance or risk being seen disposing of her body somewhere else.
‘And, of course, even if someone did think to look inside the tank, her body would be hidden from view. And for nearly 40 years, it was the perfect place and he got away with murder.’
The Venables were aged 25 and 23, respectively, when they first met at a Worcester and Kidderminster Young Farmers club social in 1957.
In 1960, they were united in marriage at Brenda’s Rushock parish church. The following year, they moved into Quaking House Farm, which Venables had built on land his father had given him and which offered “magnificent views” of the surrounding countryside.
But by the decade’s end, their marriage was having issues. According to Brenda’s friend Vicky Jennings, their lack of children and Venables’ multiple encounters with other women upset Brenda.
One of them was Lorraine Styles, Venables’ mother’s caregiver, who began an intimate relationship with the wealthy farmer in 1967 after he offered her rides home.
She passed away in 2017, but a statement she made to police in 1984 described their relationship in depth and how Venables responded to his wife’s disappearance.
At her daughter’s 21st birthday party, Ms. Styles stated Venables had offered to bring a catering-sized pork pie to help with refreshments; however, a week prior to the celebration, he had called to report his wife had vanished.
Her statement said: ‘He seemed quite composed and suddenly told me that his wife had disappeared the day before and that he was phoning to let me know before I read it in the paper.
‘He said that she had gone in the night and the first he knew was when he discovered the front door open the following morning.
‘He said that Brenda had seemed quite normal the night before and had set the Teasmaid and everything seemed alright, but the following morning she had disappeared.’ Two weeks later, he called round at her house and tried to have sex.
Ms Styles stated: ‘I couldn’t understand why he was so calm about the whole episode; he just sat and watched the television. Later (in) the evening he eventually got round to making advances towards me and it was quite obvious from his actions that he wanted me to have intercourse.
‘In view of his wife’s disappearance and that even I was concerned for Brenda I refused his advances.’
A few weeks later, their sexual connection was back on track, but by the fall of 1982, there was no longer any spark, and she saw Venables with another lady on his arm.
Venables had always maintained that on May 2, 1982, he had just woken up to discover his wife had vanished.
However, Trevor Brooks, who at the time managed a piggery owned by Venables and his brother Peter, testified in court that neither he nor his coworkers were asked to participate in the search, and additional witness statements claimed that Venables made “no mention” of Brenda’s disappearance in the wake of it.
The jury was also told that Brenda had developed depression prior to her passing as a result of her husband’s “multiple affairs” and her infertility.
She had sought care for her mental health from both her general practitioner and a consultant psychiatrist.
She reportedly informed her psychiatrist Dr. Richards that she and her spouse were sharing a bed but hadn’t had sex since 1969.
Doctors reportedly tried to schedule appointments for the couple to see one another, but Venables allegedly kept declining because he was “too busy.”
In the weeks leading up to her passing, he reportedly also opposed Dr. Richards’ attempt to admit her to the hospital, according to the memo read to the jury.
According to the doctor, Venables was a “typical farmer” who showed his wife little to no affection while lavishing praise on the family dog.
Venables’ sentencing is scheduled for next week.