Anthony Russell: Triple killer convicted of rape - BBC News
Anthony Russell is found guilty of raping his final victim, moments before strangling her.
Anthony Russell had admitted the three murders, but denied rape

A triple killer has been found guilty of the rape of his final victim, who was five months pregnant.

Anthony Russell, 39, has previously admitted the murders of Julie Williams, her son David Williams and 31-year-old Nicole McGregor, whose body was found in woodland near Leamington Spa.

The jury heard he had assaulted Ms McGregor just hours after she showed him a picture of her baby scan.

Russell is due to be sentenced at Warwick Crown Court on Friday.

Following the verdict on Thursday, Police described Russell as an "evil" and extremely dangerous individual, and said the "violent series of killings" had taken place over a week in October 2020.

Police said there was no known link between Russell and Nicole McGregor

West Midlands Police said it believed Mr Williams, 32, was killed on 21 October due to Russell's "mistaken belief that he was in a relationship with his girlfriend".

When Russell then went to speak to Julie Williams about her son's disappearance, Det Supt Shaun Edwards said officers suspected "he confessed to David's killing" and "then killed Julie to stop her from speaking to the police".

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Russell, of Riley Square, Coventry, strangled Mr Williams with a lanyard and left the body under his bed, where it was found by police five days later, covered in 87 injuries.

He then strangled Mr Williams' mother on 25 October, in an attack that saw the 58-year-old hit five times on the head and neck, prosecutors said. She had 113 separate injuries.

However, there was "no known link" between the killer and Ms McGregor, Det Supt Edwards said.

Julie Williams and her son, David Williams, were found dead at separate addresses

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC said: "Just three hours after meeting the defendant it appears that Nicole has agreed to walk with the defendant into Newbold Comyn.

"We suggest that the defendant lured Nicole on to the Comyn, not for sex but more likely for drugs."

After the murder, heroin user Russell pretended to help Ms McGregor's partner look for her.

Following her disappearance, the court heard he had told her partner, the baby's father: "I bet you can't wait for it to be born" - knowing he had raped and killed her.

Strangled on 26 October, Ms McGregor's body was found three days later.

The killer was eventually the subject of a national manhunt and fled Leamington by stealing a car from a 78-year-old man.

Russell rang the pensioner's doorbell asking for directions, the court heard, and when the victim was distracted, he hit him over the head from behind with a brick, leaving him with a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain.

He was arrested on 30 October after police spotted the stolen Ford C-Max parked on a road near Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, and found Russell on the back seat.

He was unanimously found guilty of rape after a retrial at Warwick Crown Court.

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