Worcestershire student admits murdering woman in 'Dexter' kill room

Warning: This article contains details that readers may find distressing

Benjamin William Day, 20, changed his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Day, who was 19 when the murder took place, was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on 4 December.

But after an hour-long delay to proceedings earlier, Day returned to the dock and appeared to smirk as he entered a guilty plea.

Day had set up the the rented room in the Tividale area of the West Midlands to emulate the character - lining the walls and floor with plastic sheeting to cover his tracks and amassing a "shopping list" of items, including an apron, a plastic visor and cleaning chemicals.

Day lured Saceanu to a room he had rented on Airbnb in order to murder her

The first day of the trial heard that after causing 78 knife wounds to sex worker Saceanu, who he contacted through a website using a burner phone, Day abandoned the "gruesome task" of dismemberment because he cut himself.

On body cam footage played to jurors on Tuesday, Day could be seen sitting in a police car with his hand wrapped in duct tape.

Questioned as to where he had got duct tape to wrap around his hand, Day told police it was in his car, although he could not remember where it was parked.

Police were alerted to the scene at the Airbnb by the property's landlord, who had been contacted by another resident who had booked into a different room and had discovered a trail of blood.

A Home Office pathologist said Saceanu, originally from Romania, probably died as a result or wounds to her neck, causing damage to her carotid arteries, with a number of wounds to her hands "consistent with efforts to protect herself".

"It seems to us that given his age and the absence of (previous) criminal offending, the court would be assisted by a pre-sentence report."