David Fuller: double murderer admits sexually abusing 23 dead women in Royal Tunbridge Wells

A double murderer has admitted sexually abusing 23 dead women in hospital mortuaries over a 13-year period.

David Fuller, 68, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of sexual penetration of a corpse and four counts of possession of extreme pornography at Croydon Crown Court on Thursday (3 November). The offenses were committed between 2007 and 2020.

Fuller, who beat and strangled Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, to death before sexually assaulting them in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987, was sentenced to a whole-life term last year.

He pleaded guilty to murdering Ms Knell and Ms Pierce, as well as 51 other offences, including 44 charges relating to 78 victims in mortuaries between 2008 and November 2020. The court heard that Fuller filmed himself abusing corpses in the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, in Pembury, where he had worked as an electrician since 1989.

Kent Police said an investigation had led to evidence relating to a total of 101 victims and the latest charges relate to the 23 remaining victims, all of whom were deceased adult women – 10 have not been identified.

What did Fuller plead guilty to?

• 10 charges under section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 relating to offences involving 10 identified victims
• Two charges under section 70 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 relating to offences involving three unidentified victims
• Two charges under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 relating to the possession of extreme pornography in connection with 13 identified victims
• Two charges under section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 relating to the possession of extreme pornography in connection with 10 unidentified victims

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said Fuller, who appeared in court by video-link from HMP Frankland, must appear in person when she sentences him in the week starting 5 December, likely at the Old Bailey.

Prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said victim personal statements are being prepared. He told the court: “There are many family members of the victims who would like to attend court in one way or another, some of whom who would wish to read their victim personal statements to the court.”

The Government has announced an independent inquiry into how Fuller went undetected until being arrested for what have been dubbed the “bedsit murders” on 3 December 2020 following new analysis of decades-old DNA evidence. There were reports of “prowler activity” in the lead-up to both women’s deaths, with locals reporting a voyeur looking through their windows.

Ms Knell was found dead in her Guildford Road apartment on 23 June 1987, while Ms Pierce was snatched five months later on 24 November outside her home in Grosvenor Park, with her naked body discovered in a water-filled dyke at St Mary in the Marsh on 15 December.

Neighbours described hearing screams from Ms Pierce’s flat on the night in question before she was then reported missing, and there was no sign of her in her flat. Fuller also kept evidence of himself visiting the Buster Browns restaurant where Ms Pierce worked and photos in SupaSnaps sleeves – the company Ms Knell was employed at when she was killed.

Police discovered a library of images of Fuller attacking corpses when officers searched his three-bedroom semi-detached home in the town of Heathfield, East Sussex, where he lived with his family. The victims included a nine-year-old girl, two 16-year-olds and a 100-year-old woman.