A man from Dundee, Scotland, is facing life imprisonment after a jury at the Edinburgh High Court found him guilty of killing a woman and her 2-year-old daughter.
On Monday, the court convicted Andrew Innes, 52, of murdering Bennylyn Aquino-Burke, 25, and her daughter, Jellica, whose bodies were found buried under his kitchen floor on March 18, 2021.
Andrew Innes, 52, has today been convicted of the murders of a mother and her two-year-old daughter in Dundee. He was found guilty following a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 36 years. https://t.co/6LARvSN1hr pic.twitter.com/8A66FnGKky
— Police Scotland (@PoliceScotland) February 6, 2023
The court also found Innes guilty of sexually assaulting the toddler and raping a 7-year-old girl between February 20 and March 5, 2021.
Testimony from the rape victim revealed that Innes used a hammer to hit Bennelyn several times on the head before stabbing her with a long knife. He strangled Jellica two days later. DNA evidence from items found at the crime scene, including handcuffs and clothing, was also presented during the trial.
“These are among the very worst crimes which have come before the High Court of Justiciary,” Lord John Beckett, judge of the Supreme Court, said at the conclusion of the five-day trial.
During the hearing, Innes admitted to killing the mother and child but denied any premeditation and lodged a special defense of diminished responsibility. Innes changed his story several times throughout the trial and at one point claimed he killed her “because I was insane, as a result of the steroids.”
A forensic psychiatrist who met with Innes several times and wrote a report for the Crown on his condition testified during the trial that he did not believe Innes was impaired at the time of the killings.
He now faces a mandatory life sentence for each of the murders and will be considered for release on…
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