Former Mr Gay UK who killed and cooked victim guilty of murder
A jury at Leeds Crown Court found Anthony Morley guilty of the murder of Damian Oldfield this afternoon.
The jury took less than three hours to reach their verdict.
Mr Oldfield, 33, sustained more than 30 stab wounds, some of them post mortem, and pieces of his leg and chest had been sliced off.
His jugular vein had been cut open in the attack at Morley’s home.
Police found pieces of muscle, skin and flesh under Mr Oldfield’s naked body, which was discovered by officers in Morley’s bedroom in his flat in Harehills on April 24th.
Morley, a chef, had seasoned and cooked some of Mr Oldfield’s flesh and chewed a piece before discarding it.
Chunks of cooked flesh were found on the chopping board in his kitchen.
The victim had a jagged 27cm by 14cm wound in his chest, and a similar sized one in his thigh.
Valerie Tomlinson, a forensic scientist, told the court she examined Morley’s house shortly after the killing took place.
She told the jury that in Morley’s kitchen she found a blue chopping board containing six pieces of human flesh on it, together with a cleaver.
There she also found fresh herbs, olive oil and a dish of seeds. A frying pan on the hob contained herbs and oil.
She told the court: “It does suggest that the original piece of meat had been cooked as one piece of meat and subsequently chopped.”
Adding that on the cleaver: “there was greasy staining but very little actual blood on that item. It may well have been used to chop the original piece of meat after the meat had been fried.”
Ms Tomlinson also told the court that a partly consumed piece of flesh was found in a plastic bin bag in the kitchen.
Morley with his Mr Gay UK award.
Damian Oldfield was an employee of All Points North, the company owning ‘Bent’ Magazine, ‘Mission’ Club in Leeds and the ‘Mr Gay UK’ brand. He worked as an advertising manager for the magazine.
Mr Oldfield and his killer had been involved in a relationship of some kind in the previous months and that they exchanged a series of text messages on April 23rd, the date of Mr Oldfield’s death.
One text implied that Morley was having difficulties with his sexuality but would “like to try again” but “take it slow”.
The prosecution told the court that after sexual activity took place that Morley then stabbed Oldfield in the throat.
The court was told that there was no sign of struggle and that it was possible that the victim was attacked from behind.
Morley later went to a takeaway restaurant and asked for the police to be called.
Morley was reported to have said to police: “It’s this lad, he tried to rape me so I stopped him.”
Anthony Morley with popstar Sonia
Morley said that he had a steady girlfriend when he won the first Mr Gay UK competition in 1993 and his lawyer claimed that he was conflicted about his sexual orientation.
Prosecution barrister Andrew Stubbs QC told the court that Morley could not come to terms with his sexuality and killed Damian Oldfield after cooking for him and watching the film Brokeback Mountain.
Morley told the court on Monday how he and Mr Oldfield were watching a DVD in bed at the time:
“I remember feeling that he was on top of me doing what he was doing.
“I felt numb and out of control. I felt uncomfortable and betrayed.
“We had talked about the whole situation.
“I was not comfortable with having a sexual relationship when we had only just got to know each other.
“I can only say at some point Damian’s body had just become something I would deal with at work; a piece of meat.
“That’s the only thing I can think of. That was my daily task, preparing meat.”
Professor Nigel Eastman, a forensic psychiatrist, told the court that Morley could have suffered flashbacks to an alleged rape he suffered as a teenager, which may explain his motivation for the attack on Mr Oldfield.
Prof Eastman said that Morley was likely to have been in a “dissociative state” during the alleged attack, which would back up his claim that he has no memory of it taking place.
“There’s an assault, there are flashbacks and that makes dissociation likely during the killing,” Prof Eastman said.
The court heard evidence from forensic psychiatrist, Dr Patrick Quinn, who also assessed Morley.
Dr Quinn said that he did not think he was suffering from any mental illness, and that Morley had never mentioned any flashbacks during the two assessments they held.
Dr Quinn said Morley had told him that he was raped when he was 17.
Mr Stubbs said the claim that he was raped was a “nonsense.”
The victim’s mother, Denise Oldfield spoke of her son: “We shared a special bond, which I can still feel, but now I’m only left with memories and that’s not good enough.
“Damian loved life and he has had that taken away from him in the cruellest of circumstances.
“He was so easy going and friendly that to know Damian for five minutes was to know Damian as a friend.
“Damian always made a big impression on those who knew him and I have been very touched by all the messages that have been left on the Gone Too Soon and Facebook websites.
“It’s testament to Damian’s popularity that school friends as well those who knew Damian more recently have left messages.”
Adding: “Damian will be sadly missed by all those who knew and loved him.
“Gran, older brother Craig and sister-in-law Tracy, as well as all his nieces and nephews, will miss his smile and his company.”
Morley, 36, will be sentenced on Monday.
