Karl Hutchings (Image: Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire)
A gruesome killer obsessed with Silence of the Lambs character Hannibal Lecter who contemplated eating his neighbour after bludgeoning her to death with a hammer, has been jailed for over 21 years. Twisted Karl Hutchings, 48, cut up his victim Julie Buckley’s body into 10 pieces with an electric saw and then toyed with the idea of eating the evidence before deciding to bury the dismembered corpse in a remote field. The pair had been friends before Hutchings exploded in rage during an argument and attacked 55-year-old Ms Buckley with a hammer and throttled her.
Days later he confessed his murderous actions to a friend claiming it “took her 24 hours to die because she just wouldn’t die”.
On the first day of a two-day sentencing hearing that took place on Monday, prosecutor Christine Agnew KC told Cambridge Crown Court: “He talked about Hannibal Lecter, saying he was obsessed by him and if there was a play he’d be the best person to pick because he wouldn’t have to practise.”
She added: “He said [to his friend] that he had gagged her and that he would have eaten her but he didn’t want to put that “toxic person” in his body.
“He said that he would have happily had a ‘steak dinner’ that night.”
The boast reflects the iconic scene in The Silence of the Lambs where cannibalistic serial killer Lecter, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, says: “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.”
Julie Buckley (Image: Cambridgeshire Police/PA Wire)
On Thursday Hutchings, who had a photo of himself wearing a Lecter-style mask on his Facebook page, was told by Recorder Mark Bishop that he was responsible for an “eruption of violence” towards his vulnerable victim.
He said: “You aggravated the gravity of what you had done by treating her body with no dignity or respect in death.
“Her body was stripped and her hair cut and you dismembered her with a saw, the better to bury her in a shallow grave.”
Police began an investigation in mid-February last year when concerns were raised for Ms Buckley’s welfare.
Officers found blood spattered at the house where she was staying in Christchurch, near Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, and forensically linked it to her.
Checks revealed she had last been seen alive on January 28 when she was caught on CCTV buying groceries in the nearby village of March.
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Image: Unknown)
Hutchings was arrested on February 13 and charged with murder – despite it being a rare ‘no body’ case.
But last September he finally cracked under interrogation and admitted killing her before provided detectives with a map of the field in Wimblington where they found a “very shallow grave” that had been dug with hand tools.
Inside were the naked remains of Ms Buckley, who is believed to have been murdered between January 29 and the morning of January 30.
A post-mortem examination found she had sustained multiple blunt force traumatic injuries to the skull and other fractures, including to her ribs, nose and left hand, the last probably from warding off blows before becoming incapacitated.
None of the injuries were deemed immediately fatal, meaning she would have clung on to life “for some hours”.
Allison Summers KC, mitigating, said her client – whose previous offences include assault occasioning bodily harm and battery – had a “history of mental health problems and drug addiction which left him isolated, vulnerable and living on the periphery of society”.
She claimed the attack had been spontaneous and Hutchings had intended to cause “serious harm rather than kill.”
The judge noted more than 2,000 police hours were spent on the case, with officers carrying out proof-of-life inquiries until her body was found.
Andrew Young, senior crown prosecutor, said afterwards: “Despite Karl Hutchings’ initial claims that the evidence against him was laughable, he eventually changed his plea from not guilty to guilty and provided the police with a map leading to a shallow grave where he had crudely buried Julie Buckley.
“Our case strategy following the complex investigation relied on a number of experts including archaeologists, anthropologists and a pathologist – who were able to determine how Hutchings brutally killed Julie.
“We also used comprehensive forensic evidence gathered from the murder scene, direct accounts from those who had spoken to Hutchings and extensive ‘proof of life’ enquiries.
“I hope the outcome of these proceedings will bring some form of justice to Julie’s family and loved ones.”