Dad-of-one James Desborough told a forensic biologist who was searching the woods for one of his victims that he “enjoyed the dismemberment scenes” in the TV show Dexter
A fan of TV serial killer Dexter has been found guilty of murdering two men, whose bodies were dismembered and hidden in woodland, before he killed his cellmate as he was awaiting trial.
James Desborough, 40, murdered Claudio Aquilino, 57, and Daniel Coleman, 43, before dismembering and hiding their bodies in Cornwall last year. He reportedly confessed to a forensic biologist searching for one of the bodies that he was a fan and “enjoyed the dismemberment scenes” in Dexter.
The former builder is already serving a life sentence after he strangled his prison cellmate Steven Kempster at HMP Exeter while on remand awaiting this trial.
The dad-of-one became a sick and twisted serial killer having killed three men in separate incidents over just five months.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court returned the unanimous guilty verdicts on Tuesday (July 28) after deliberating for three hours and 15 minutes. Desborough reportedly showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out.
The 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.
Parts of Mr Coleman’s body, including his torso, legs and feet, were found in a shallow grave nearby.
Police also found several handwritten notes inside Desborough’s cabin, including one headed: “Bug out list” and another: “Hostiles”.
Among the notes were one which said: “I know I am a killer and ready to execute any predators” and another that said: “Take care of the remaining muppets,” with Mr Coleman’s name also listed.
Desborough also drew a series of concentric circles with Sticker Woods in the centre, and London and Benidorm listed at the outer point, which was entitled: “Kill Zone”, and the sub-heading: “Operational spheres”.
He had also made plans to the 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 killed Mr Aquilino, who had addictions to drugs and gambling, shortly after he was last seen alive in April last year.
The defendant maintained he had in fact while high on ketamine found Mr Aquilino, who had a history of suicidal ideation, hanging dead from a tree on his land in May or early June.
And his role was helping Mr Coleman – who had dismembered and burnt the remains alone – dispose of Mr Aquilino’s body in a stream, Desborough said.
He said Mr Coleman calmed him down and convinced him to dispose of the body and carry on using Mr Aquilino’s bank card.
“The idea was to cover up the death, carry on using his card. I’m not proud of it, it was like dangling the carrot,” he said.
“I was homeless, jobless, I had no money and addiction problems.”
He also denied murdering Mr Coleman in the early hours of June 4, and instead insisted he had returned to his cabin later that month and found him lying naked, face down and dead in a stream.
Worried about there already being one dead body on his land and that he was in possession of Class A drugs, he dismembered Mr Coleman using an axe and buried the remains.
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.
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