Double killer David Fuller, 68, has been handed a further four years in prison at the Old Bailey for the ‘systematic’ sexual abuse of women’s bodies at hospital mortuaries in Tunbridge Wells.
The families of women who were sexually abused in death have described their ‘disgust’ at the ‘sick and twisted’ acts of double killer David Fuller.
Fuller, 68, is already serving a whole life sentence for murdering Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in 1987 and been sentenced for the sexual abuse of the corpses of 78 women and girls at hospital mortuaries in Tunbridge Wells.
He appeared at the Old Bailey today to be sentenced for a second tranche of offences against a further 23 dead women.
David Fuller, 67, escaped justice for over 30 years after murdering Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in Tunbridge Wells in 1987. In December 2020, DNA advances at last led police to Fuller’s home in Heathfield, East Sussex, where they found horrific evidence he had raped over 100 women’s corpses in two hospital mortuaries he worked
Wendy Knell (left) and Caroline Pierce (right) were beaten and strangled by Fuller before being sexually assaulted in in Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Opening the facts, prosecutor Michael Bisgrove said Fuller had abused the bodies of at least 101 girls and women, although 10 of the victims had not been identified and were unlikely ever to be.
Mr Bisgrove said: ‘The indictment reflects the course of conduct by Mr Fuller during his employment at two mortuaries during which he systematically and repeatedly abused the bodies of dead women and girls. He abused at least 101 women.’
The daughter of one of the victims described in court how she felt when she found out about the abuse of her mother, saying: ‘The pain and emotional upset seared through my body like a knife.
‘He took advantage of her helplessness in death where we were unable to protect her.’
Addressing the defendant in the dock, she said: ‘David, I want you to know how much damage you have caused, how your sick and twisted behaviour has damaged families like mine.
Detectives said Fuller did not look surprised when they arrested him, but he initially denied any involvement and said he had no knowledge of the case
Fuller (pictured) was part of a Kent cycling club in the 1980s. One of their routes travelled directly past where victim Caroline Pierce’s body was found in 1987
‘I’m pleased you are now being held accountable for what you did only seven hours after she died.’
Two years ago, Fuller admitted murdering Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in 1987 after he brutally bludgeoned and strangled them to death.
Both women, who lived alone in bedsits in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, were then sexually assaulted by the former hospital electrician as they were either dying or post-death.
Miss Knell’s body was discovered in her bed on June 23, 1987 while Miss Pierce, who was attacked just feet from her front door on November 24, was found three weeks later on December 15 wearing just a pair of tights, in a field 38 miles away in Romney, Kent.
Their horrific deaths – dubbed the ‘Bedsit Murders’ – became one of the UK’s longest unsolved double homicide cases.
Three-times wed Fuller was finally arrested on December 3, 2020 after a major breakthrough in DNA science identified a familial link to a relative on the national database.
But detectives only realised the true extent of his crimes when they uncovered what was described by prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC as ‘a library of unimaginable sexual depravity’ concealed in a hide at his home.
Stored on hard drives were videos and photos Fuller had recorded of himself abusing dozens of women and girls over a 13-year period in mortuaries of the hospitals, where he worked as a technical supervisor.
Married Fuller, who had been employed by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust since 1989, would wait for mortuary staff to finish their shifts before accessing fridges where the bodies were stored.
The victims, some of whom the 68-year-old violated more than once, included three who were under 18 at the time of death. Several others were said to be over 85 years old.
He then used mortuary records to log their details in his own notebooks, and even looked up some of his victims on Facebook.
He was still working for the NHS trust when arrested and had had access to all areas in both hospitals via a swipeable identity card.
Also on the hard drives were a staggering four million indecent images of children – mostly downloaded from the internet.
Fuller, from Heathfield, East Sussex initially denied the historic murders on the grounds of diminished responsibility before unexpectedly changing his pleas to guilty amid dramatic scenes on the fourth day of his trial.
The depraved killer was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.
At the time of the sentencing, 81 of the mortuary victims had been identified.
However, due to difficulties in identifying all the corpses he abused and fearing there may have been hundreds of others going back to when Fuller’s hospital employment record began, Kent Police set up a call centre at the conclusion of the trial to deal with any public concerns.
The government also announced an independent public inquiry would be held, while NHS England ordered all hospitals to review their security.
Following Fuller’s conviction, the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate were able to identify a total of 101 victims.
The latest charges are connected to the 23 remaining victims – all deceased adult females – whose corpses were abused between 2007 and 2020.
An extensive and complex identification process led officers to formally identify 13 of these 23 further victims.
Police were unable to establish the identities of the other 10 victims, however the charges reflect offending against all of them.
No evidence has been found of any further victims.
- Any of the families want to speak to the Trust or access the victim support services which have been put in place, should contact Victim Support online at: www.victimsupport.org.uk or by calling the Supportline: 0808 1689111.