Johanna Carr

James Desborough was found guilty at Winchester Crown Court of murdering Claudio Aquilino and Daniel Coleman, two vulnerable men he met at a homeless shelter, and concealing and desecrating their remains in woodland near Sticker, Cornwall. Their bodies were dismembered, burned or buried, making it impossible for experts to establish the causes of death. Desborough had already been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for strangling his prison cellmate Steven Kempster. He is due to be sentenced for the two Cornwall murders, with the court considering a possible whole-life term.

Prosecutors told Winchester Crown Court that James Desborough was responsible for three fatal attacks in less than six months, including the murders of Claudio Aquilino and Daniel Coleman and the later killing of his prison cellmate Steven Kempster. Desborough denies the two Cornwall murders but admits preventing the lawful burial of Aquilino and Coleman, whose dismembered remains were found on his land. The prosecution alleged a pattern of killing, body disposal, money theft and lying, while the defence argued that the case relied on assumptions, disputed the evidence and said dismemberment did not prove murder. The trial is continuing.

James Desborough denied murdering Claudio Aquilino and Daniel Coleman but admitted disposing of their bodies, telling a Winchester Crown Court jury he felt pressured to continue covering up after helping remove Aquilino’s remains. He claimed Coleman was responsible for dismembering and burning Aquilino’s body and that he found Coleman dead in a stream before cutting up the body while intoxicated. Prosecutor Ahmed Hossain challenged Desborough’s explanations, suggesting they were attempts to conceal evidence. The trial is ongoing.