A student accused of killing a sex worker inside a Dexter-inspired “kill room” appeared to smirk from his hospital bed as police arrested him.
Benjamin Day, 20, who had reportedly become obsessed with the US crime drama, gave a brief nod after being told he was under arrest over the death of 24-year-old Maria Saceanu.
Separate police footage shows officers treating Day’s injured hand soon after the alleged killing. His account began to raise doubts when he claimed the injury had been caused by a wild dog.
Day, dressed in a green khaki long-sleeved shirt similar to clothing worn by the fictional serial killer Dexter, became visibly angry as officers pressed him about what had really happened.
He said a wild dog had bitten him after he cut his hand while carrying out what police described as the “gruesome task” of dismembering Ms Saceanu’s body.
Benjamin Day, 20, was arrested in hospital after injuring his hand while cutting up his alleged victim’s body
Clutching his mobile phone, he was told that he was under arrest on suspicion of murder
Officers had earlier treated his injured hand after he claimed a wild dog had attacked him
Day had called 999 for assistance after leaving the property and walking “some distance” away from where he had allegedly left Ms Saceanu.
In the recording, an officer asks him: “Where’s the dog? Is it your dog?”
Day replies: “No, it is a wild dog… It just attacked me.”
Officers then asked him to sit down while they examined his hand, which had been wrapped in gaffer tape. He appeared to smirk once more when a female officer questioned him about the makeshift dressing: “Did you wrap that yourself? Where did you get the gaffer tape from?”
Day said he had bought the tape and kept it in his car, although he claimed he could not remember where the vehicle was parked.
As officers became increasingly doubtful of his explanation, one told him: “What has gone on? Have you been attacked… because I’ll be honest with you, your story doesn’t quite check out. So where did it actually happen?”
Day responded angrily: “I said I don’t know.”
The footage emerged as images offered a glimpse inside the £40-a-night Airbnb in Tividale, West Midlands, where Day allegedly prepared his Dexter-inspired “kill room”.
The semi-detached property remains advertised for rent. Listing photographs show patterned bedspreads across each of its three bedrooms.
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The Tividale, West Midlands property where Day allegedly prepared his Dexter-inspired “kill room”
Rental listing photographs show colourful patterned bedspreads in each of the three bedrooms
The property offers single, double and “deluxe double” rooms for £40 a night
The property also has a kitchen and dining room and garden
Day, a forensic sciences student, admitted killing Ms Saceanu on the second day of his trial yesterday.
He had been expected to claim self-defence, asserting he set up the room at an Airbnb to film a ‘tribute’ to US show Dexter which he could post on TikTok.
But after an hour’s delay in court, he returned to the dock and appeared to smirk as he nodded to enter a guilty plea.
He was remanded into custody, with the case adjourned pending psychiatric assessments.
Day, 19 at the time of the killing, is the son of a company director.
The court was told the University of Worcester student prepared the room as a ‘tribute’ to the US drama, lining it with plastic sheeting.
The show followed forensic technician Dexter Morgan, who leads a secret double life as a vigilante serial killer.
Prosecutors said he was ‘fascinated’ with Dexter and his actions ‘were those of a copycat’.
Ms Saceanu answered a text from him shortly after 9.30pm on December 20 and drove to the Airbnb where Day had been ‘preparing’ since 5.30pm.
The prosecution said Day had killed her within a short time of her arrival.
A guest staying in another room at the Airbnb noticed a trail of blood and told the landlord, who called police.
A Home Office pathologist said Ms Saceanu probably died as a result of wounds to her neck.
She also had ‘a number of wounds to her hands [which were] consistent with efforts to protect herself’.
