Double killer David Fuller who murdered two women more than 30 years ago and went on to sexually abuse over 100 corpses has pleaded guilty to 16 more mortuary offences today.

The 68-year-old's offending included defiling the bodies of a nine-year-old girl and a woman aged 100.

He received two whole life sentences on December 15, 2021, after pleading guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells, Kent in 1987.

He was also given concurrent sentences totalling 12 years, in respect of further unrelated charges he pleaded guilty to.

These included sexual offences against 78 deceased females at mortuaries in the Tunbridge Wells Hospital and at the former Kent and Sussex Hospital, between 2008 and 2020.

David Fuller after being arrested and placed in custody
Fuller after being arrested and placed in custody 
Image: 
Kent Police / SWNS)

Last month police brought a further 16 charges against him in relation to sexual offences committed in a mortuary setting.

He appeared at Croydon Crown Court, south London, this morning via video link.

The former hospital electrician, who is currently incarcerated at high security prison HMP Frankland in County Durham, spoke to confirm his name.

Caroline Pierce
Fuller murdered Caroline Pierce 
Image: 
PA)

The court heard that Fuller was accused of 12 counts of intentionally performing an act of penetration with a part of his body on the body of a dead person between December 31, 2007 and December 4, 2020.

And a further four counts of possessing extreme pornographic images, which appear to show an act of interference with a corpse, at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, on December 4, 2020.

When the charges were put to him Fuller replied "guilty" to all of them.

Wendy Knell
Wendy Knell was Fuller's murder victim 
Image: 
PA)

Prosecution counsel Michael Bisgrove KC requested the sentencing be adjourned to the week commencing December 5 so the families of Fuller's victims could attend the hearing and give victim impact statements.

Trial judge the Hon. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb requested that Fuller attend the hearing - which will likely be held at the Old Bailey in London - in person.

Fuller was convicted of murdering Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, over 30 years after he brutally bludgeoned and strangled them to death.

CCTV issued by Kent Police of David Fuller being questioned
CCTV issued by Kent Police of Fuller being questioned 
Image: 
PA)

Both women, who lived alone in bedsits in Tunbridge Wells, were then sexually assaulted by the former hospital electrician as they were either dying or post-death.

Miss Knell's body was discovered in her bed on June 23, 1987.

While Miss Pierce, who was attacked just feet from her front door on November 24, was found three weeks later on December 15 wearing just a pair of tights, in a field 38 miles away in Romney, Kent.

Their horrific deaths - dubbed the 'Bedsit Murders' - became one of the UK's longest unsolved double homicide cases.

David Fuller
Fuller murdered two women in 1987 
Image: 
PA)

Three-times wed Fuller was finally arrested on December 3, 2020 after a major breakthrough in DNA science identified a familial link to a relative on the national database.

But detectives only realised the true extent of his crimes when they uncovered what was described by prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC as "a library of unimaginable sexual depravity" concealed in a hide at his home.

Stored on hard drives were videos and photos Fuller had recorded of himself abusing dozens of women and girls over a 13-year period in mortuaries of the hospitals, where he worked as a technical supervisor.

David Fuller's hospital pass card used to access the mortuaries
Fuller's hospital pass used to access the mortuaries 
Image: 
Kent Police / SWNS)

Fuller, who had been employed by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust since 1989, would wait for mortuary staff to finish their shifts before accessing fridges where the bodies were stored.

The victims, some of whom the 68-year-old violated more than once, included three who were under 18 at the time of death. Several others were said to be over 85 years old.

The court heard he then used mortuary records to log their details in his own notebooks, and even looked up some of his victims on Facebook.

David Fuller
Fuller's crimes date back more than 30 years 
Image: 
PA)

He was still working for the NHS trust when arrested and had had access to all areas in both hospitals via a swipeable identity card.

Also on the hard drives were a staggering four million indecent images of children - mostly downloaded from the internet.

Fuller initially denied the historic murders on the grounds of diminished responsibility before unexpectedly changing his pleas to guilty amid dramatic scenes on the fourth day of his trial.

The depraved killer was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.

Kent Police officers find a notebook detailing mortuary victims in a search of David Fuller’s office
Officers found a notebook detailing mortuary victims in a search of Fuller’s office 
Image: 
Grab)

At the time of the sentencing, 81 of the mortuary victims had been identified.

However, due to difficulties in identifying all the corpses he abused and fearing there may have been hundreds of others going back to when Fuller's hospital employment record began, Kent Police set up a call centre at the conclusion of the trial to deal with any public concerns.

The government also announced an independent public inquiry would be held, while NHS England ordered all hospitals to review their security.

Following Fuller's conviction, the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate were able to identify a total of 101 victims.

property in Grosvenor Park in Tunbridge wells where Ms Pierce was killed
A property in Grosvenor Park in Tunbridge Wells where Ms Pierce was killed 
Image: 
PA)

The latest charges are connected to the 23 remaining victims - all deceased adult females - whose corpses were abused between 2007 and 2020.

An extensive and complex identification process led officers to formally identify 13 of these 23 further victims.

Police were unable to establish the identities of the other 10 victims, however the charges reflect offending against all of them.

No evidence has been found of any further victims.