Kim Banyard
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kim Banyard (born 9 January 1981, died 9 January 2003) was killed by 21-year-old John Dore, at the small house they shared with their baby son in Pitsea, Essex.
Contents |
[edit] Murder in Pitsea
John Dore killed Miss Banyard so he could start a new life with a woman he had met at a nightclub in Basildon.
Dore had claimed Miss Banyard tried to stab him in a jealous rage, after finding a sexual text message on his mobile phone, and that he had killed her in self-defence. But a jury at the Old Bailey in London found him guilty of murder. His father Stephen Dore, 44, of Ayres Close, Poplar, London, was also sentenced after pleading guilty to perverting the course of justice.
[edit] The Bag
The jury heard that Dore and his father, Steven were found by a passing police car as they tried to bury Miss Banyard's body in a shallow grave on wasteland in Bow, east London.
The police jokingly asked, "What's in the bag?"
Unfortunately, they replied, "A body," which raised suspicions from the police immediately. The police later found an axe and three knives in the car. Steven Dore claimed that the axe was going to be used to chop down a tree and the knives were there in case they need to cut slices of bread in an emergency.
[edit] Guilty
It emerged in the trial that Dore began an affair with a woman just 10 weeks after Miss Banyard gave birth to their son on 25 October 2002.
The prosecution said he had wanted to start a new life with the woman and began to plot the murder. He even admitted to friends that he no longer wanted to be with Miss Banyard. But it was on 9 January 2003, Miss Banyard's birthday, that Dore killed her - strangling her and hitting her with a hammer. The jury heard that Dore's parents were called to help dispose of the body and to clear the house of evidence. Aftab Jafferjee, prosecuting, told the court: "They despised Kim and he was entirely confident in the assistance he was going to get from his family once he had murdered her."
He also said Dore had not "cared for family life" with Miss Banyard and considered himself a "ladies' man". Miss Banyard's body was put inside a large plastic bag and taken by father and son to be buried on 11 January. Dore then set about leaving a false trail of phone messages and opened her mail to make it seem she was still alive.
"This demonstrates a chilling determination in ensuring this murder would occur the way he wanted and he would be able to pursue a new life," added Mr Jafferjee.
[edit] Shopping
When Dore was questioned by police, he claimed to know nothing of her death and said she had walked out to get some clothes and food shopping.
