Andrew Burfield, who had claimed he accidentally killed Katie Kenyon, is jailed for her murder.
Image source, FamilyA man who told police he killed a woman accidentally when he threw an axe at a tree has been jailed for her murder.
Andrew Burfield changed his plea at Preston Crown Court to admit killing mother-of-two Katie Kenyon, who was hit an estimated 12 times with the axe.
The court heard the 51-year-old killed Ms Kenyon on 22 April and buried her in a grave which he had dug in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, the day before.
He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years.
Speaking after sentencing, Det Ch Insp Al Davies said Burfield, of Todmorden Road, Burnley, was a “wicked, deceitful bully who sought to isolate Katie from her family so he could control and manipulate her”.
“He first sent bailiffs to her house, revelling in the distress that it caused her [and] then sought to rekindle the relationship, all to lure Katie to the woods where he would murder her in the most heinous of circumstances,” he said.
At the opening of the case on Monday, the court was told Burfield was arrested following the 33-year-old’s disappearance and interviewed four times, initially denying any knowledge of her whereabouts.
However, David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, said that in Burfield’s penultimate interview, there was a “revelation” and his version of events changed.
Image source, Lancashire Police
He told police he had taken Ms Kenyon to Gisburn Forest in the Forest of Bowland for a picnic and she had “bet” him he could not hit a drink can with his axe.
“I went for the tree at the side of her and it hit her in the head,” he told officers.
He went on to claim that she had been hit with the back of the axe and she had no other injuries, but the court heard a post-mortem examination showed she was struck an estimated 12 times with the weapon.
‘Dangerous monster’
The jury was told that on 21 April, Burfield travelled to Gisburn Forest with a set of ladders and spade he had borrowed from his parents.
He then went back to the location the following day with Ms Kenyon, travelling in his Ford Transit van and stopping off at McDonald’s on the way.
He spent just over 42 minutes in the forest, where he killed her and buried her body.
Image source, Lancashire Police
In the hours after the murder, Burfield used Ms Kenyon’s phone to send messages, drafted the month before her death, to her children and to himself and then left a voice note from his own phone that said he was “a bit worried” about her.
A week-long search for Ms Kenyon ended with the discovery of her body by police on 29 April.
Burfield changed his plea to guilty on the third day of his trial.
Speaking after sentencing, Mr Davies said Burfield was a “dangerous monster” who had tried to control Ms Kenyon.
“When it became clear that she was no longer seduced by his fanciful lies, he set himself on an abhorrent course of conduct which would eventually lead to the pre-planned murder of a kind, loving mother-of-two,” he said.
