‘Dexter fan’ serial killer won’t ever be launched as sufferer’s mum says ‘you took my son’
Serial killer James Desborough, 40, who murdered Claudio Aquilino, 57, and Daniel Coleman, 43, before dismembering and hiding their bodies in woodland in Cornwall last year has been handed a whole life order
James Desborough will never be released from prison (Image: Facebook)
A ‘Dexter fan’ turned serial killer who is already serving a life sentence for the murder of his cellmate at HMP Exeter has been jailed for the rest of his life for the murders of two homeless men.
Desborough, 40, has been given two whole life orders on Wednesday afternoon for murdering Claudio Aquilino, 57, and Daniel Coleman, 43, in Cornwall last year. The mum of one of the victims told Desborough “you took my son” in an emotional statement read out at Winchester Crown Court today (July 29).
The former builder was already serving a life sentence for murdering his cellmate Steven Kempster, 65, whom he killed while awaiting trial for these offences.
James Desborough’s cabin in the woods(Image: Devon and Cornwall Police/PA Wire)
Mr Aquilino and Mr Coleman, who both suffered from long-term addictions, had previously lived with Desborough at the homeless hostel, and the last time they were both seen alive was in his company.
After their disappearances, the powerfully built 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, deposited in a stream, 1,900 burned bone fragments from the body of Mr Aquilino.
Desborough is already serving life for murdering his prison cellmate(Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)
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.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Saini said Desborough would never be released. The judge said: “You are now aged 40. I cannot, of course, resentence you for the murder of Mr Kempster, but given you are already subject to a life sentence with a minimum term as I have specified, my concurrent sentences for the murder of Claudio and Daniel must reflect your overall criminality.
“Having seen and heard you give evidence, and considering the circumstances in which you murdered Mr Kempster, I am sure that you are a highly dangerous individual who has no regard for the lives of people who you think are worthless. You are a person who can kill in extreme violence, with no remorse or indeed reflection on your actions.”
Daniel Coleman’s mum wrote a victim statement, which was read to the court(Image: Devon and Cornwall Police/PA Wire)
In a statement read out to court by prosecutor Ahmed Hossain KC, Sandra Coleman, mother of victim Daniel, said that when she closes her eyes “the nightmares begin”.
As reported by Cornwall Live, She said: “I see my son’s pain. I see his grave that you placed his broken destroyed body into. I’ve been there. I’ve stood where you stood when you so callously discarded him.”
Speaking of the struggle Daniel went through and her struggles trying to help and support him through those times, she said to Desborough: “You’ve taken my hope that he would go on to see his daughter grow, get married, make him a grandfather and me a me a great grandmother.”
“He had the voice of an angel. I find myself sobbing, feeling like I’m suffocating when a song is played that he sang for us.
“You took my firstborn son. You’ve destroyed any hope of us coming together as a whole family. You have given me a life sentence of pain, despair, anxiety and hopelessness. You took my son”.
Claudio Aquilino was another one of of Desborough’s victims(Image: Devon and Cornwall Police/PA Wire)
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.
Desborough showed no remorse for his actions, the judge said(Image: Devon & Cornwall Police)
He accepted then spending their money on beer and drugs, but told jurors: “They were friends, I got on well with them.”
On Tuesday a jury at Winchester Crown Court found Desborough guilty of murdering Mr Aquilino and Mr Coleman following a five-week trial.
Desborough, of Old Oak Woods, Lower Sticker, Cornwall, had previously pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of the two men’s bodies.
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