David Venables, 89, tried to frame serial killer Fred West for the murder of Brenda Venables. During the month-long trial, his legal team said West had links to the Worcestershire village of Kempsey, where Brenda disappeared in May 1982. They also claimed that Mrs Venables may have left her matrimonial home at Quaking House Farm and “either killed herself or met or encountered someone who wished her harm”. But the jury convicted Venables of murdering his wife on either 3 or 4 May 1982. Prosecutor Michael Burrows QC said Venables had “got away with murder” for almost 40 years after dumping his wife in the septic tank near the farm. Her skull and other bones were discovered during work to empty the underground chamber on 12 July 2019, six years after Venables had sold the property for more than £460,000. Dismissing Venables’ defense as preposterous, Mr Burrows said at the start of the trial: “The truth, the prosecution say, is that it was David Venables who killed her. Image: Brenda Venables was photographed while on holiday in Perthshire, Scotland “He wanted to get her away – he wanted to resume his long-term relationship with another woman, Lauren Styles. “He knew about the septic tank in its remote location. It was almost the perfect hiding place for him. “And for almost 40 years, it was the perfect place and got away with murder.” The jury heard that Venables’ relationship with Ms Styles began around 1967 and continued on and off. Mr Burrows said that by 1981, Ms Stiles had “again doubts about David Venables’ feelings for her”, but that the farm owner had rekindled the extra-marital affair that Christmas and New Year, months before the woman disappeared of. Venables told jurors he awoke on the morning of May 4, 1982, to find his wife, then 48, gone. He said he then searched the surrounding lanes and a section of the nearby River Severn. After the murder, the court heard, Venables appeared calm to those who knew him. He later sought an annulment of his marriage to Ms Venables, who was described by relatives and friends in court as a kind, welcoming and friendly woman. Image: Her body was found in a septic tank in 1982 Worcester Crown Court was told the pensioner told police after his arrest in 2019 that he believed West may have killed Brenda, who had been diagnosed with depression. Venables was remanded in custody and will be sentenced next Wednesday. Speaking on behalf of West Mercia Police, Detective Sergeant James Beard said: “The terrible truth is that Brenda was killed by the person who should have cared for her the most. She then let her family and friends go for so long without knowing what happened. to her.”
