Man jailed for murder of woman missing for 28 years

A man has been jailed for life for murdering his partner who went missing 28 years ago - after he suddenly confessed to police that he had disposed of her decomposed body months after killing her.

Patricia Lashley, 33, was last seen near their home on Hall Street, Dudley, in September 1998.

Trevor Dunkley, 66, admitted her murder at Wolverhampton Crown Court in September. At the same court on Friday, four of Lashley's children watched as he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 10 years and 10 months.

Judge Chambers said the defendant had hidden Lashley's body in their cellar, later disposing of her remains into household waste bins. Her remains have never been found.

Dunkley was also handed a concurrent sentence of two years for preventing Lashley's lawful burial.

Despite having been spoken to by officers on numerous occasions, Dunkley had previously maintained he had come home from work to find Lashley had disappeared, leaving her nine-month-old child alone in her flat, the court heard.

Dunkley had taken Lashley's child, of whom he was not the father, to social services, and the boy was later placed into care and adopted.

The judge said the fact Dunkley had "caused the death" of the child's mother was "the most significant aggravating factor" in the case, as Lashley's son had grown up believing he "had been abandoned".

The court heard Dunkley had "become emotional" when police told him Lashley's family, including her children, "wanted answers" about her disappearance.

He then admitted: "I killed her, I'm sorry."

Speaking to the BBC, Det Insp Michelle Cordell, of West Midlands Police, said it had come as a surprise when Dunkley decided to confess to his crimes and described the killer as "calculated" and "callous".

"I don't think we will ever understand the reasons why he's chosen now to confess. Only Trevor Dunkley knows why now," she said, adding: "He seemed to understand the magnitude of what he was confessing to.

"He was very aware that in confessing he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison. He was very cool, very calm."

The court heard that one night between 22 and 28 September 1998, Dunkley, who worked as a furnaceman, had come home from a night shift.

Prosecutor Robert Price said that Dunkley told police in his confession he had "snapped" during an argument with Lashley and "hit her on the head and kept hitting until she went quiet".

"He was wearing chunky rings, which did most of the damage," Price told the court.

Dunkley moved Lashley's body into the cellar "for about a year", Price said.

Dunkley had told police in an interview: "I could hear the rats under the kitchen floor."

Price told the court that when Dunkley next went into the cellar, "there were only bones left" and he put them in bags "for bin men to take away" over four collections.

In mitigation, Balbir Singh said Dunkley was a "decent and hardworking man" with no previous convictions and a good record at work. He added the murder had not been planned.

The judge acknowledged the defendant's confession to police was "to his credit" but told Dunkley as he sentenced him: "You did a dreadful thing and the passage of time is only down to your untruths."

In a statement, Lashley's sister, who had formerly reported her missing in June 1999, prompting the police investigation, said her sister had "had a very difficult start in life" and "sought comfort in alcohol". Lashley had a history of mental health problems, the court heard.

Dunkley said he had met Lashley in a pub and described her as "very outgoing". She had told him she was pregnant by another man, and her youngest son was born a few months later.

The court heard the defendant had told police in an interview: "I didn't love her at all because she's not my type of woman and I just wanted to help with the baby".

But he said she "changed" after her son was born and "made life hell with her nagging".

Singh, defending, told the court: "She would sometimes behave in a manner that was stressful for the defendant, that was upsetting for the defendant."

Along with Lashley's children, her youngest son's adopted parents were in the courtroom to watch as Dunkley was jailed.

Det Insp Cordell added: "They would [want] nothing more than to have their mother present in their life," Det Insp Cordell said.

"That's something Trevor Dunkley took away from the in the cruellest fashion."

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