West Midlands murder accused copied TV killer Dexter, jury hears

A forensics student obsessed with the US TV drama Dexter set up a copycat “kill room” in an Airbnb to stab a woman to death, a jury has heard.

Benjamin William Day, 20, a University of Worcester undergraduate, was arrested wearing a khaki top resembling one worn by Dexter after inflicting 78 knife wounds on Maria Saceanu, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

Opening the case against Day, prosecutor Rachel Brand KC said he had “lured” Saceanu, a sex worker, to the room where he had amassed a number of items used to kill her and dispose of evidence.

Day, of Redditch, Worcestershire, who denies murder, was arrested after injuring his hand and calling 999 for help in December, the court heard.

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Brand said it was anticipated Day, who was 19 at the time and still living with his parents, would claim self-defence and that he set up the room in the Tividale area of the West Midlands to film “a tribute” to Dexter which he could post on TikTok.

Explaining the Crown’s case, Brand said the evidence showed Day had “planned this murder in some detail”.

“He had prepared himself to kill her,” she said. “He had planned to dispose of her body without leaving signs of what had happened and he planned to get away with it.

“But it all went wrong and he was caught.”