British student pleads guilty to murdering a Romanian woman, stabbed 78 times

Benjamin Day, a 20-year-old British student, has pleaded guilty to murdering Maria Săceanu, a 24-year-old sex worker of Romanian origin. The woman was attacked on December 21 in an Airbnb-rented property in Tividale, West Midlands, and sentencing is scheduled for December 4.

According to prosecutors at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Day prepared the property with plastic sheeting, taking inspiration from the television series “Dexter,” of which he was a fan. He contacted the victim using a prepaid phone and lured her to the property under a pretext that has not yet been fully clarified.

Investigators say the young man planned in detail both the attack and the attempt to conceal the body. Day inflicted 78 stab wounds on the victim and began dismembering her body, but stopped after injuring himself.

He later left the property and called the emergency services, telling police that he had been attacked by a wild dog or a fox. He was arrested after being taken to hospital. Prosecutors rejected the claim that he had acted in self-defense.