A man admitted to killing a mother and her two-year-old child at home.
Prosecutors claim Andrew Innes “stabbed” Bennylyn Burke, 25, and “repeatedly” struck her on the head with a hammer and knife handle instrument at Troon Avenue in Dundee property between February 20 and March 5, 2021.
The 52-year-old also admitted to asphyxiating Jellica Burke.
However, Innes’ defense stated that he lacked criminal responsibility for the alleged murders and that his responsibility was diminished. He denies all charges.
Prosecutors claim Innes then hid their bodies beneath the property’s kitchen floor, with a further accusation that he also committed a catalogue of horrific sexual abuse against a seven-year-old girl he abducted.
He is also charged with attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
This includes a claim that he wrapped Bennylyn’s body in a rubble bag, blanket, and tarpaulin before concealing the body in concrete beneath the kitchen floor at the Troon Avenue property.
Jellica’s naked body is also said to have been hidden there.
The charge also alleges that Innes told police investigating Bennylyn’s disappearance that he drove her, Jellica, and another child to the Old Inns Cafe in Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, on February 28.
He is said to have told the officers he left them with an “unknown male” and that he had no contact with them afterwards.
At a hearing last year, his defense attorney, Brian McConnachie, told the trial judge that Innes did not recognize the wrongfulness of his actions because of a mental disorder.
Innes denies murdering the couple as well as the sexual offenses.
The trial at the High Court in Edinburgh before Judge Lord Beckett is expected to conclude on Friday.
source:https://ghanaianexpress.com
