A man has been charged with killing his mother and keeping her body in a horror shrine for weeks. Dominic Whitton, 42, from Tottenham, left Pepita Garcia, a 75-year-old artist, with 76 fractures through repeating beatings in the weeks leading up to her death.
Ms Garcia died curled up in the corner of her bedroom in early December 2024, before Whitton painted her nails and turned the room into a “shrine”, with candles and incense burners to mask the smell. The 42-year-old didn’t report his mother’s death to the police until six weeks later, on January 13, 2025.
In the time between killing her and filing the report, Whitton used his mother’s credit cards to visit pubs, buy a ticket to Tina Turner the Musical and book a tour of Tottenham Hotspur‘s stadium, The Telegraph reports.
He contacted a GP “in panic” to inform them of her death in January, adding that she had passed away before Christmas.
Whitton was convicted of murdering Ms Garcia and preventing the lawful and decent burial of her body following a trial at Wood Green Crown Court in May.
He was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum term of 24 years.
Prosecutors told the court Ms Garcia’s body had been found in an advanced state of decomposition, with around 67 fractures including broken ribs and broken bones in her nose, neck and shoulder.
Whitton was previously arrested for coercive control after his mother’s friends raised the alarm over his treatment of her and a police welfare check in September 2024 found Ms Garcia bruised with two black eyes, but she did not want her son to be prosecuted.
Ms Garcia was described in court as a “vibrant, welcoming woman” who volunteered at her local food bank and was a Spanish dancer and member of a Buddhist group.
Judge Andrew Menary KC told Whitton: “The last 10 weeks of Pepita’s life must have been miserable. She was starved, weak, struggling to breathe and would have been in constant pain.
“She sustained increasingly ferocious assaults from you, the son she loved and protected. She died on the floor in a corner of her room, alone, without any words of comfort. It was a cruel death.”
The judge added: “You will have to live with the guilt that you killed the one person who always defended you and who loved you unconditionally: your mother.”