Overview
- The trial at Winchester Crown Court continues with James Desborough testifying that he found Daniel Coleman and Claudio Aquilino dead on land where he lived but denies killing them while admitting he cut up or disposed of their remains and used their bank cards.
- Prosecutors have presented physical and digital material including about 1,900 burnt bone fragments, DNA on an axe found near a shallow grave, multiple cutting tools recovered around his cabin, and diary and text messages shown to jurors.
- Jurors heard that Desborough was convicted in March 2026 of murdering his cellmate, Steven Kempster, a previous verdict prosecutors say is relevant to how he is judged in the current case.
- Forensic limits were highlighted when a pathologist told the court that Daniel Coleman's remains were too badly decomposed to give a conclusive cause of death, leaving medical evidence incomplete and sharpening the contest over other proof.
- The two alleged victims had known Desborough through shared accommodation for people with addiction issues and lived at times on the woodland site, and the jury must now weigh his admissions about concealment and spending against gaps in direct forensic proof.