Footage shows Dexter 'kill room' murderer's arrest

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Police release video from Dexter killer's arrest

Police have released body-worn video of the moment a university forensics student was arrested for stabbing to woman to death in a "kill room" copied from US TV show Dexter.

The footage shows Benjamin Day, who cut open his hand while attempting to dismember the body of Maria Saceanu, lying to officers after the killing, claiming to have been bitten by a wild dog or a fox.

Day, 20, changed his plea at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday to admit to murdering the 24-year-old Romanian.

A trial heard his victim, who had been a sex worker, had been lured to a plastic-lined room at an Airbnb in Tividale, in the West Midlands, where she suffered 78 knife wounds.

The court heard Day left the Airbnb at about 12:30 GMT on 21 December, before walking some distance away to call 999 at 12:50 where he asked for medical help.

Footage released by police on Wednesday shows the University of Worcester student near the junction of Highview Street and Brewery Street in Dudley where he is bleeding from his wound.

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Asked by an officer if he had been set up and attacked, Day said he had been injured by an animal that "might have been a fox".

He also falsely claimed to be unable to remember where he had parked his car, which was outside the house containing his victim's body.

During his conversations with police, Day said he had driven over to the Dudley area to look for a "random girl" in a bar.

Maria Saceanu takes a selfie. She has long black hair and brown eyes. Behind her appears to be her bedroom with a bed and a bedside table with bottles on it. A white hand bag is hanging on peg on the wall.Image source, West Midlands Police

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Maria Saceanu was lured to a "kill room" inspired by the US TV show Dexter

In a further clip released by West Midlands Police, Day is seen wearing a Dexter-style khaki top while lying on a bed at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital where he was arrested at 03:42.

He is also heard saying: "I have got four fingers thankfully."

Day, of Yeadon Close, Redditch, Worcestershire, has been remanded in custody and faces a mandatory life sentence when he is sentenced on 4 December.

Benjamin Day holds up his left arm which appears to be covered in blood but the image is blurred. He is wearing a green top and has short brown hair.Image source, West Midlands Police

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Day told officers the wound to his hand could have been caused by a fox

Det Insp Matt Marston, from West Midlands Police's Major Crime Team, who led the investigation, said: "Day had an obsessive personality and had become obsessed with the character Dexter.

"He planned this murder in meticulous detail. It was a pre-planned brutal attack on a defenceless woman lured to the room he had rented.

"Day had flagged down officers where he offered them a fabricated story about the reason why he had received an injury to his hand.

"Officers were suspicious and he was quickly detained.

"The details of this case shocked experienced officers and our thoughts continue to go out to the heartbroken family of Maria at this time."

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