Worcestershire student admits murdering woman in ‘Dexter’ kill room

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A forensic science student obsessed with the US television drama Dexter has admitted murdering a 24-year-old woman after luring her to a plastic-lined “kill room” inside an Airbnb.

Benjamin William Day, 20, changed his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Prosecutors said he had carefully planned the killing of Maria Saceanu, preparing a room with plastic sheeting and items intended to help him murder her and dispose of evidence.

Day, who was 19 when the murder took place, was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on 4 December.

The University of Worcester undergraduate, of Yeadon Close in Redditch, Worcestershire, had been expected to argue he acted in self-defence and had set up the room to film a Dexter tribute for TikTok.

But after an hour-long delay to proceedings earlier, Day returned to the dock and appeared to smirk as he entered a guilty plea.

The first day of the trial heard that after causing 78 knife wounds to sex worker Saceanu, who he contacted through a website using a burner phone, Day abandoned the “gruesome task” of dismemberment because he cut himself.

Prosecutor Rachel Brand KC said he had set up the rented room in the Tividale area of the West Midlands to emulate the TV character Dexter, including lining the walls and floor with plastic sheeting to cover his tracks. He had also amassed a “shopping list” of items, including an apron, a plastic visor and cleaning chemicals.