A farmer, David Venables, 88, has been charged with the murder of his wife after her remains were found in a septic tank 37 years after he claimed she had left home without returning, Taltokemi report.
The 88-year-old
was arrested in 2019 after workers discovered human remains in the cesspit at
the farmhouse he had previously shared with his wife, Brenda Venables who was
48 as at when she when she went missing in 1982 in Kempsey, Worcestershire.
Her
disappearance was treated as a search for a missing person and it never became
a murder inquiry until the bones of an adult female were found in the compound.
On Tuesday,
June 8, West Mercia Police confirmed that they have charged Mr Venables in
connection with his wife’s death two years after her bone remains were found in
a bag during “routine maintenance”,
Mrs Venables'
name was added to her parents' gravestone 16 miles away in Rushock, recording
her year of death as 1982. Forensic
officers were seen scouring the farmland and Venables’ new home after the shock
discovery was made.
At the time a
neighbour said: "Mrs Venables used to go every week to her parents in
Bromsgrove.
"At one
point he told someone his wife had gone off to Spain."
The suspect
ran a nursery and piggery at Quaking Farm, where he had lived with Brenda.
Locals said
Mrs Venables's disappearance was the talk of the village and speculated at the
time her body may have been buried in a concrete tomb under the nearby M5
motorway when it was being built.
A villager
told The Sun Online: “We had only just moved to the village when she went
missing.
“They were
searching down by the river. That was the main thought that she had
drowned."
Mark Paul,
head of the complex casework unit, said: "The decision to authorise the
charge against the defendant was made after careful consideration of all the
available evidence of this complex case and determining that a prosecution is
required in the public interest.
"The
alleged offences occurred between May 2 1982 and May 5 1982.
"The
function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal
offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether
criminal charges are appropriate.
"Criminal
proceedings are now active, and there must be no reporting, commentary or
sharing of information online which could prejudice these proceedings."
A West Mercia
Police spokesman added: “David Venables, aged 88, from Kempsey, was charged
with murder on Tuesday 8 June and will appear in Worcester Magistrates’ Court
on Tuesday 15 June.
“He has been
charged in relation to the discovery of human remains, identified as Brenda
Venables, that were found in Kempsey in July 2019.
“Brenda was
originally reported missing in May 1982.”
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