A forensics student who was obsessed with US TV drama Dexter has pleaded guilty to murdering a sex worker who he lured to a plastic-lined “kill room”.
University of Worcester undergraduate Benjamin William Day was arrested wearing a Dexter-style khaki top after inflicting 78 knife wounds on Maria Saceanu, 24, and starting to dismember her body, a murder trial was told.
Day, who was 19 at the time and is now 20, spent several hours preparing the so-called kill room at the Airbnb premises in the Tividale area of the West Midlands, around 20 miles from his home in Redditch, Worcestershire, the court heard.
Police arrest footage shows the student walking around with a bloodied hand. The force said he had flagged down one of its cars.
When asked about his injury, he hold officers he had been attacked by a fox. But officers questioned his story.
Later at around 2.20pm, police received a call from a landlord saying one of his tenants in Bancroft Road had discovered blood at the bottom of the stairs.
Benjamin Day seen on arrest footage walking around with a bloodied hand. Credit: West Midlands Police
Officers searched the property and found Ms Saceanu’s body next to the bed.
The found the bedroom floor and walls, and the bed itself, had been lined with plastic sheeting, which had been stapled to the wall.
A canvas roll containing multiple knives was discovered as well as a staple gun and duct tape.
Day also had items like an apron, a plastic visor and cleaning materials.
The 20-year-old changed his plea to guilty after discussions with his barrister on the second day of his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
He had been expected to claim self-defence, asserting that he set up the room to film a “tribute” to Dexter which he could post on TikTok.
But after an hour-long delay to proceedings on Tuesday, Day returned from the cells to the dock and appeared to smirk as he nodded towards the court clerk and entered a guilty plea.
Day, wearing a dark suit and a maroon patterned tie, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on December 4.
Detective Inspector Matt Marston, who led the investigation, said: “Day had an obsessive personality and had become obsessed with the character Dexter. He planned this murder in meticulous detail.
“It was a pre-planned brutal attack on a defenceless woman lured to the room he had rented.
“Day had flagged down officers where he offered them a fabricated story about the reason why he had received an injury to his hand. Officers were suspicious and he was quickly detained.
“The details of this case shocked experienced officers and our thoughts continue to go out to the heartbroken family of Maria at this time.”
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