James Desborough, a 40-year-old man who murdered and dismembered two of his friends before strangling a cellmate to death while awaiting trial, has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Mr Justice Saini, sentencing Desborough at Winchester Crown Court, issued a rare whole-life order, describing the killer as 'highly dangerous' and stating that he considered his victims 'worthless'.
Vulnerable victims targeted
The judge noted that Desborough killed Claudio Aquilino, 57, and Daniel Coleman, 43, because they were vulnerable, homeless, and physically slight individuals whom he believed would not be missed due to their chaotic personal lives. 'I also find you did not consider them to be worthy of respect as humans,' the judge said. Saini emphasized that a whole-life order is a 'last resort', used only when the seriousness of a case is 'exceptionally high'.
Devon and Cornwall Police are reviewing the deaths of four other individuals who lived in a homeless shelter at the same time as Desborough and his two victims. Det Supt Rachael Bentley, head of the major crime investigation team, stated that at this stage the force does not believe Desborough killed any of the four, 'but it’s an ongoing investigation.'
Dismemberment and disposal
Desborough killed Aquilino and Coleman, cut up their bodies, and hid the remains in woodland near a shack where he sometimes lived off-grid in south Cornwall. While in Exeter prison before his trial, he murdered his cellmate, Steven Kempster, 65, apparently because his snoring annoyed him.
During the sentencing hearing, emotional victim statements were read out. Coleman’s 14-year-old daughter said: 'I love him. I was a daddy’s girl; now I can’t be. It hurts to see I’ll never see him smile again.' She told Desborough he was a 'miscreant killer'. Aquilino’s family described him as a talented artist and good cook, though addiction problems made his life difficult.
Investigation and search
More than 700 officers and scientists were involved in the 175-day search of the woods, with Devon and Cornwall Police drawing resources from five other forces. The weather was extremely hot, and the terrain was jungle-like and boggy, with officers sometimes wading through chest-deep water. The force even diverted a stream to systematically sieve 300 metres of its bed, a first for the force. They discovered 1,900 burned bone fragments from Aquilino and the remains of Coleman.
Aquilino and Coleman, who suffered from long-term addictions, had previously lived with Desborough at a homeless hostel in Newquay. Desborough used the men’s money to buy drugs and alcohol after their deaths. He told a forensic biologist searching the woods that he had 'particularly enjoyed the dismemberment scenes' in the television series Dexter.
