Arabnews24.ca:Monday 6 February 2023 10:45 AM: A man has been found guilty of murdering a mother and her two-year-old daughter and burying their bodies under his kitchen floor.
Andrew Innes, 52, admitted killing Bennylyn Burke, 25, and toddler Jellica but denied murder and instead lodged a special defence of lacking criminal responsibility and diminished responsibility.
He was also found guilty of sexual assault, rape and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
On Monday, Judge Lord Beckett told the jury at Edinburgh High Court that they were "bound to find the accused guilty of murder".
It comes after the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the defence that medication had caused Innes to suffer steroid-induced psychosis which led to him going "insane".
Innes admitted hitting Ms Burke on the head with a hammer. He then stabbed her with a samurai sword before bludgeoning her with the handle of the blade and the hammer.
He also admitted asphyxiating Jellica before burying both bodies under the kitchen floor of his house in Dundee.
Ms Burke, originally from the Philippines, moved to Bristol a few years ago and met Innes via an online dating site.
Innes travelled to Bristol to meet Ms Burke in February 2021 before returning to Dundee the following day with both Ms Burke and Jellica for the weekend.
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'I was apocalyptically angry'
He claimed when Ms Burke was in his kitchen cooking, he thought she looked like a "hybrid" of his estranged wife and another former partner.
Innes said he "thought of all the nasty stuff" his wife had allegedly done and said the other woman "left him in the most horrible way".
"I was apocalyptically angry," he said.
It was then he launched his attack, hitting Ms Burke on the back of the head with a hammer.
'I was insane as a result of the steroids'
During questioning by defence lawyer Brian McConnachie KC, Innes claimed he killed Jellica two or three days after Ms Burke.
He said the toddler wanted her mother, adding that it "seemed logical to me to put her with her mum".
Asked why he killed Jellica, he replied: "Because I was insane as a result of the steroids."
The jury had been told that Innes was taking steroid medication for a condition and had not slept at the time of the deaths.
Innes denied the killings had been premeditated.
He described the hammer as "not a useful weapon", adding: "If this was premeditated in any way it would have been way cleaner."
The crimes took place at Innes's house in Troon Avenue, Dundee, between 20 February and 5 March 2021.
Read more:
Double murder suspect 'apocalyptically angry' before hitting woman with a hammer, court hears
Toddler 'killed during game of hide and seek', court hears
Andrew Innes told police officer: 'She's under the floor'
'It's absolutely horrific'
Detective Chief Inspector Graham Smith, of Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team, agreed with the National Crime Agency that it was a "once in a generation crime".
He told Sky News: "That crime scene and the trauma that was involved in that crime scene is probably a one-off, I'd certainly like to think it's a one-off."
Speaking of Innes, DCI Smith said: "The depravity that he's shown is unimaginable, it's absolutely horrific."
The painstaking excavation work in Innes's kitchen involved "meticulous planning" with assistance from forensic, archaeology, anthropology and geology experts.
DCI Smith said: "It took a period of six days' work for them to go into that house knowing what they were looking for and what they would eventually recover. To this day some officers are still struggling with that and it's certainly an inquiry that I and the inquiry team will never forget."
Once arrested, investigating officers said Innes showed "no remorse" and "wallowed in self-pity".
DCI Smith said he didn't want to focus on Innes and instead praised the courage of the victims' families.
He said: "Credit needs to go to them for the strength they've shown through all this, and I hope this conviction brings them some closure."
