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Published 10:45 IST, November 18th 2022

UK man kills girlfriend with axe, buries her corpse in forest after last meal at McDonalds

The body of the dead woman was recovered after police located the accused Ford Transit van on CCTV that was parked outside Gisburn Forest.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
IMAGE: Twitter/@LancsPolice | Image: self

In another chilling incident, an English man took his ex-girlfriend out for a meal at McDonald's and later murdered her in cold blood with an axe. Katie Kenyon had texted Andrew Burfield, her ex-lover, that she was "ready and excited for a new chapter" as she agreed to meet him. But as the man and the girl finished what would have been her last meal, hours later he assaulted her brutally with an axe and buried her body in a shallow grave in the forest, UK's Mirror reported. 

Cops suspicious seeing Ford Transit van on CCTV

Andrew Burfield, 51, killed the 33-year-old Katie Kenyon back in the month of April. He buried her corpse in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire. Katie, a mother of two, had been in a complicated relationhip with Burfield since July 2016. After killing her, the man used her phone to text himself and her children to try to cover the crime. Burfield was sentenced on Thursday as the court found him guilty. Burfield, a resident of Todmorden Road, Burnley, had initially denied the murder and had instead told police that Kenyon had accidently died. He said that he threw an axe after she bet him he could not hit a can of Coke with it and it hit her.

The body of the dead woman was recovered after police located the accused Ford Transit van on CCTV that was parked outside Gisburn Forest in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire on April 22. The couple had made a stopover for lunch at McDonald's on their way to Lancashire. 

51-year-old changed his plea to admit to the murder on the third day of the trial. He was detained at Preston Crown Court for life with a minimum 32 years of imprisonment. He was re-arraigned on the charge before the jury formally found him guilty, according to UK's Mirror. A post mortem performed on Kenyon's body showed she was struck almost 12 times with the axe. David McLachlan KC, prosecuting, in his opening statement said that Burfield was arrested four times, but managed to lie to the law enforcement authorities. He was caught when he changed his version of events with the police. The latter then confessed to the police that he killed his date and buried her in a grave measuring 1.5ft in depth. He covered the site with leaves and twigs to prevent animals getting to the body. 

Updated 10:45 IST, November 18th 2022

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