A triple killer walks with his final victim moments before he raped and murdered her.
Anthony Russell, 39, of Riley Square, Coventry, murdered three people in six days and has been convicted of raping his final victim, who was five months pregnant.
He had previously pleaded guilty to the murders of Julie Williams, 58, and her son David Williams, 32, at separate flats in Coventry on October 25 and October 21, 2020. He had also admitted the October 26 murder of Nicole McGregor, 31, who was found in woodland near Leamington Spa three days later.
After a retrial at Warwick Crown Court, Russell was unanimously found guilty on Thursday of raping Ms. McGregor, after just an hour and 23 minutes of deliberations by the jury. The 39-year-old assaulted her hours after she had shown him a picture of her baby scan.
A chilling CCTV clip showed the killer walking with the pregnant woman just minutes before the vile attack. Russell had also told the expectant father, who was Ms. McGregor’s partner: “I bet you can’t wait for it to be born,” in the hours after she disappeared knowing he had raped and killed her.
According to Zoe Johnson QC, prosecuting, the jury was satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that Russell forced himself on Ms. McGregor, who was five months pregnant at the time and raped her in “one course of conduct”.
Johnson QC said that Russell’s motivation for killing Ms. McGregor was clear in this case. In her summing up of the prosecution’s case, Ms. Johnson had said Russell was driven by an all-consuming bid “to stop her from complaining of rape.”
Ms. Johnson said: “The defendant was a man on the run, wanted by police. The pattern of behavior is an important consideration for you. Every other violent crime committed by the defendant was for a reason, that reason was to achieve his own ends.”
“We suggest this incident was no different. His crimes were deliberate and calculated. We suggest this was no different, the compelling circumstantial evidence, in this case, will draw you to the view she was raped,” she added.
Meanwhile, Robert Cowley, the defending said: “That there was no bruising to her inner thighs does not suggest she was not raped. Nevertheless, it’s important evidence to put into the balance when you’re considering whether the intercourse was consensual or an act of rape.”
“There was no evidence of restraint. Again, I do not say that proves she was not raped.
It’s possible someone could be restrained through their clothing or through such fear. But, again, it’s important evidence and, again, we invite you to put that into the balance. The only sufficient and proper verdict is one of not guilty,” he added.
However, the jury very quickly dismissed that version of events to find the defendant guilty after less than 90 minutes of deliberation. Ms. McGregor’s body was found by police search teams in an area of dense undergrowth near the River Leam on October 29, 2020. Ms. McGregor’s body was covered in scratches and bruises having been dragged through the woodland by Russell.
On a separate crime, Russell strangled David with a lanyard and left the body under his bed where it was found by police five days later, covered in 87 injuries.
She had also inflicted 113 injuries on Julie, David’s mother, and is believed she has been killed because she found out Russell had murdered her son. Afterward, Russell claimed he had killed a man who “had sex with his girlfriend”.
The killer was arrested on October 30 after police spotted the stolen Ford C-Max parked on a road near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, and found Russell on the back seat. While being booked into custody, he told officers: “I admit it, I did it.”
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