DAVID FULLER OFFENDER IN BRITISH HISTORY DETAILS IN TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT
An electrician who pleaded guilty to the murders of two women in 1987 also admitted to sexually abusing numerous deceased bodies in hospital mortuaries, in what prosecutors describe as the most severe case of necrophilia in British legal history.David Fuller, aged 67, admitted to the killings of Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in separate incidents in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, according to police.
He changed his plea to guilty on Thursday during his trial at Maidstone Crown Court, where it was revealed that he sexually assaulted both victims following their murders.
Initially, he had pleaded not guilty to murder, citing diminished responsibility.
The court heard that Fuller also committed sexual assaults on corpses in the mortuaries at Kent and Sussex Hospital and Tunbridge Wells Hospital while working there as an electrician.
Police have identified at least 99 potential victims, making this the largest known case of necrophilia in UK legal history.
Before facing murder charges, Fuller had pleaded guilty to 51 other offences, including 44 charges involving 78 victims attacked in mortuaries that he accessed through his employment.
These assaults took place between 2008 and November 2020.
In a police interview, Fuller stated: “I want to admit … I am admitting the offences but I don’t really want to go into detail.” During a raid on Fuller’s home, authorities discovered four million images of sexual abuse.
Most images had been downloaded from the internet, but Fuller also recorded himself abusing bodies.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) described Fuller’s necrophilia as unprecedented in British legal history: “Searches of Fuller’s home following his arrest uncovered hard drives concealed in a hide in his home, revealing evidence of prolific sexual offending of a kind no British court has seen before.” “Between 2008 and 2020, Fuller had filmed and photographed himself sexually abusing the bodies of dozens of women and girls at two Tunbridge Wells hospital mortuaries he was able to access through his role as maintenance supervisor,” the CPS added.
Wendy Knell was found dead at her apartment on June 23, 1987, suffering severe injuries in Guildford Road.
Caroline Pierce was murdered five months later, on November 24, outside her home in Grosvenor Park.
Neighbours reported hearing screams from her flat on that night.
Her body was later recovered from a water-filled dyke at St Mary-in-the-Marsh on December 15, 1987.
DNA evidence linked Fuller to both women’s murders.
There were reports of "prowler activity" prior to both women’s deaths, with locals reporting a voyeur spying on them.
Fuller was arrested for murder on December 3 last year after new DNA analysis of old evidence.
During a search of his home, officers found images of him abusing deceased women at the hospital mortuaries, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC stated.
Further investigation uncovered four hard drives with a total of 5TB of data stored.
“When these hard drives were examined, they were found to contain a library of unimaginable sexual depravity,” Atkinson said.
In police interviews, Fuller admitted to using Facebook to search for images of the victims he abused in mortuaries.
When questioned about specific files, he explained he had gone back to name them later using mortuary ledgers and body identification tags.
He also admitted to searching for images on the internet, including Facebook, saying these searches occurred after the offences.
Prosecutors emphasized that the evidence suggested Fuller’s acts were driven by sexual gratification, not mental illness.
Home Secretary Priti Patel expressed her hope that the victims’ families could "find some solace in seeing justice finally done,” and called the case “shocking,” adding that “The sickening nature of the crimes committed will understandably cause public revulsion and concern.” Libby Clark of the CPS said, “This highly dangerous man has inflicted unimaginable suffering on countless families, and he only admitted his long-held secrets when faced with overwhelming evidence.
I have no doubt he would still be offending to this day had it not been for this painstaking investigation and prosecution.” Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that the NHS has written to all health trusts requesting reviews of mortuary access and postmortem procedures.
An independent review has begun at the trust where Fuller worked, and the Human Tissue Authority has been asked to advise on potential rule changes.
A date for Fuller’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
