Killer murdered Freda Walker in Langwith Junction during robbery, trial told

A trial has been told that a robber murdered an elderly woman and left her husband with life-threatening injuries after finding out that they had £30,000 in cash stashed at home.

Vasile Culea, 34, inflicted "frankly horrific" injuries when he launched a "savage and sustained" attack on 86-year-old Freda Walker and her husband Ken, a jury at Derby Crown Court heard.

Mrs Walker was found dead at their home on Station Road, in Langwith Junction, Shirebrook, Derbyshire, on 15 January. Mr Walker, 88, was taken to hospital. He died seven months later from unrelated causes.

On the first day of his trial, Culea, of Grove Road, Church Warsop, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm, but denied Mrs Walker's murder and the attempted murder of Mr Walker.

Michael Auty KC, prosecuting, said the couple had lived together for more than 60 years at Station Road.

He said: "The defendant attacked this couple in the sanctuary of their own home. It was savage in nature and sustained. The injuries inflicted on his victims in the way that he did demonstrates he was devoid of any mercy."

He told the jury that Mr Walker had withdrawn £30,000 in cash for home improvements in October 2021, which he secreted around the house. Mr Walker never told anyone, but Mrs Walker may have divulged information to acquaintances.

Mr Auty said: "It is not clear how the defendant came to hear about the £30,000, but he did come to be aware. He decided he was going to have it. This began life as a robbery. He was going to have the £30,000."

A concerned neighbour found Mrs Walker dead in the kitchen, "hog-tied" by her wrists and right ankle, with a pillow case and a black bin-liner over her head.

A post-mortem examination revealed she suffered multiple blunt force injuries. Mr Walker, who had also been gagged and bound, sustained similar injuries but survived.

Mrs Walker would have had a reasonable prospect of survival had she not been "abandoned without any assistance" and "with coverings to her face obstructing her airway", the jury heard.

Culea was caught on CCTV as he conducted four "reconnaissance mission" circuits of the area in his car, and a further three on foot.

The defendant, who is being assisted during the case by a Romanian interpreter, is also alleged to have worn a high-visibility jacket in a bid to "go about unnoticed".

Mr Auty said: "The issue is what the defendant's intention was. He will say, we anticipate, ‘yes, I am responsible, in whole or in part, for the injuries, but I did not intend really serious harm’.

"The prosecution says 'no, you intended to kill'."

The trial continues.