Morgue monster David Fuller who murdered two women and abused corpses of more than 100 others was able to offend for 15 years without being caught because of 'serious failings' at hospitals where he worked, inquiry finds

Morgue monster David Fuller was able to offend for 15 years without being suspected or caught due to 'serious failings' at the hospitals where he worked, an inquiry found today. 

The necrophiliac father of four sexually abused the bodies of at least 101 women and girls aged between nine and 100 while employed at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, in Pembury, between 2005 and 2020.

The 69-year-old was already serving a whole life sentence for the sexually motivated murders of Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in two separate attacks in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987, when police uncovered his systematic sexual abuse in hospital mortuaries.

The Government launched an independent inquiry in 2021 to investigate how Fuller was able to carry out his crimes undetected, with the first phase of the probe looking at his employer, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Fuller was able to 'offend undetected' amid failures in 'management, governance' and because standard procedures were not followed, the inquiry found, while senior bosses were said to be 'aware of problems in the running of the mortuary from as early as 2008'.

There was 'little regard' given to who was accessing the mortuary, with Fuller visiting 444 times in a year - something that went 'unnoticed and unchecked', reporters were told. The fiend will die in prison after being sentenced to two life orders in 2021.

At a press conference in Westminster today, inquiry chairman Sir Jonathan Michael said: 'The offences that Fuller committed were truly shocking and he will never be released from prison.

'Failures of management, of governance, of regulation, failure to follow standard policies and procedures, together with a persistent lack of curiosity, all contributed to the creation of the environment in which he was able to offend, and to do so for 15 years without ever being suspected or caught.

'Over the years, there were missed opportunities to question Fuller's working practices. He routinely worked beyond his contracted hours, undertaking tasks in the mortuary that were not necessary or which should not have been carried out by someone with his chronic back problems. This was never properly questioned.'

Outlining 17 recommendations made in a bid to prevent similar atrocities, Sir Michael, a former NHS hospital consultant and chief executive, said: 'In identifying such serious failings, it's clear to me that there is the question of who should be held responsible.

'Although the failures took place over many years and during various management and regulatory regimes, I expect the current leadership of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and those outside the trust charged with oversight and regulation, to reflect seriously and carefully on their responsibility for the weaknesses and failings that I have identified in this report and to implement my recommendations.'

The inquiry concluded the trust should install CCTV cameras in the mortuary and post-mortem room, that maintenance staff should always carry out tasks in those areas in pairs and the 'practice of leaving deceased people out of mortuary fridges overnight' or while maintenance is carried out should end. It also called for a review of governance policies by the trust's board.

An examination of Fuller's computer hard drive at his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, revealed 818,051 images and 504 videos of his abuse as well as evidence of his 'persistent interest' in rape, abuse and murder of women.

The findings of this part of the inquiry are expected in 2024.

Nevres Kemal is the mother of Azra Kemal, 24, one of Fuller's victims. She told Sky News today: 'The trust and other organisations have been failing for 15 years. Now we know the truth about how Fuller was able to abuse our loved ones.

'Miles Scott is presentably the chief executive. He was there since January 8, 2018 and has also failed. He needs to resign.

'I spoke to him personally one to one and suggested he should resign as a matter integrity. I hope Victoria Atkins, the health secretary, will show him the door as he clearly doesn't know where the door is.

'Unless you have experienced this horror you cannot describe the pain that accompanies you night and day, every day. Something needs to be done now so we have some way of saying that lessons have been learnt and this is in the past. We need justice now.'   

Fuller filmed himself carrying out the attacks inside the hospitals, where he worked in electrical maintenance roles. He stored records of his serial sex offending on computer folders with titles including 'Necro Lord', 'Register', 'Deadly', 'Deadliest' and 'Best Yet'. 

Fuller was not linked to the murders of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce until 2020, which led investigators to search his home and uncover almost 900,000 files of him abusing corpses of females aged between nine and 100. 

The crimes were committed at the now-closed Kent and Sussex Hospital and the Tunbridge Wells Hospital, in Pembury, where Fuller had worked in maintenance since 1989. 

An examination of Fuller's computer hard drive at his home revealed 818,051 images and 504 videos of his abuse as well as evidence of his 'persistent interest in rape, abuse and murder of women'. 

Fuller's victims included nurses, teachers, a pilot, a skier, a war veteran, wives and mothers who had nurtured families. Many were still wearing defibrillators and catheters at the time Fuller abused their bodies.

Among those whose bodies were abused by Fuller was a 92-year-old Second World War hero who worked at Bletchley Park. Her daughter previously said he 'has done the most heinous crimes, something our family must live with daily'.

In 2020, Fuller admitted murdering Ms Knell and Ms Pierce in 1987 after he brutally bludgeoned and strangled them to death.

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

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

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.

He was sentenced to two life orders in December 2021, meaning he will never be released. 

The sentencing hearing heard impact statements from a string of the victims' family members.

The mother of Fuller's youngest victim, a nine-year-old girl, addressed him directly, saying: 'David, you know who I am because you read the letter I wrote to my baby.'

She added: 'You raped my baby. She couldn't say no to the dirty 66-year-old man who was abusing her body. I feel guilty I left her there. I will not enjoy my life again. This unnatural sick pain I will never get over.'

The father of an 18-year-old victim said: 'The only bit of comfort we held on to was how peaceful she looked when we said our goodbyes.

'This was destroyed when we got a knock on the door by the police to say she had been violated by a man my wife had grown up in fear of.

'Fuller has taken our little girl's innocence and destroyed our souls. I am consumed with anger.'

The widower of another woman told him: 'David, when you are serving your time behind bars, think carefully about what you have done and thank your lucky stars that I'm not sharing a cell with you.'

Ordering Fuller to stand, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb QC said: 'These were premeditated killings, carefully planned and executed.

'You had no regard for the dignity of the dead.  You have spent the last 45 years living an outwardly mild and ordinary life.

'You were described as a man good under pressure while in seclusion you committed acts of the deepest darkness.

'You became a vulture, picking your victims from among the dead within the hidden world of hospital mortuaries which you were free to inhabit simply because you had a swipe card.

'The depravity of what you did reveals your conscience is seared. You will spend every day of the rest of your life in prison.'