Last week, 89-year-old David Venables was found guilty of murdering his wife in 1982, whose body was found in a septic tank at their home 37 years later. He tried to charge serial killer Fred West with the murder of Brenda Venables and during the month-long trial his lawyers said West had links to the Worcestershire village of Kempsey, where Mrs Venables disappeared in May 1982. They also claimed that Mrs Venables may have left her matrimonial home at Quaking House Farm and “either killed herself or met or encountered someone who wished her harm”. However, Worcester Crown Court ruled that Venables murdered her on either 3 or 4 May 1982. Her skull and bones were found during work to empty the underground septic tank on July 12, 2019, six years after Venables had sold the property for more than £460,000. Michael Burrows QC, prosecuting, said during the trial that Venables had been “getting away with murder” for almost 40 years and that he “wanted to resume his long-term relationship with another woman, Lorraine Styles”. Image: Brenda Venables on holiday in Perthshire, Scotland The relationship with Ms Styles began around 1967 and continued on and off, the court was told. By 1981, Styles had “again doubts about David Venables’ feelings for her”, but rekindled the extramarital affair that Christmas and New Year, months before his wife disappeared, Mr Burrows said. Venables said he woke up on the morning of May 4, 1982, to find his wife, then 48, gone. She said she searched the surrounding lanes and a stretch of the nearby River Severn. After the murder, the court was told, Venables appeared calm to those who knew him. He later sought an annulment of his marriage to Ms Venables, who was described by relatives and friends in court as a kind, welcoming and friendly woman. Image: Mrs Venables The retiree told police after his arrest in 2019 that he believed West may have killed Brenda, who had been diagnosed with depression. Speaking on behalf of West Mercia Police, Detective Sergeant James Baird said: “The terrible truth is that Brenda was killed by the person who should have cared for her the most. “Then she let her family and friends go for so long without knowing what happened to her.”
