A man who killed his ex-girlfriend and buried her body in a forest has been jailed for life.
Andrew Burfield, 51, killed 33-year-old Katie Kenyon on April 22 before burying her body in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire. Katie, a mother of two, had been in and on and off relationship with Burfield since July 2016.
Burfield, of Todmorden Road, Burnley, initially denied murder. He had told officers he had accidentally killed Miss Kenyon, from Padiham, when he threw an axe after she bet him he could not hit a can of Coke with it.
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A post-mortem examination revealed the mother-of-two, who began a relationship with Burfield in 2019, suffered at least 12 head injuries.
Burfield changed his plea to guilty on the third day of his trial at Preston Crown Court.
He was sentenced to life, with a minimum term of 32 years, by judge Mr Justice Goose on Thursday.
The court heard after her death he used Miss Kenyon’s phone to send messages, drafted the month before her death, to her children and to himself.
On April 21 he travelled to Gisburn Forest with a set of ladders and spade he had borrowed from his parents.
He went back to the location the following day with Miss Kenyon, travelling in his Ford Transit van and stopping off at McDonald’s on the way, the court heard.
The police recovered an axe and a spade from Burfield’s cellar and forensics tests confirmed that Katie’s blood was on the axe.
The jury in his trial was told Burfield spent just over 42 minutes in the forest, where he killed her and buried her body.
Speaking after sentencing Tom Snape, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: “Andrew Burfield has today been jailed for life carrying out a pre meditated, brutal attack on Katie Kenyon. He buried her in a shallow grave and went to great lengths to try to cover his tracks.
“The CPS worked closely with Lancashire police to build a strong case including CCTV footage, forensic evidence, and telephone data. Despite his denials, having seen the strength of the case against him, he changed his plea to guilty after the trial had started.
“Nothing can make up for the loss of Katie, my thoughts are very much with her family and friends at this time.”
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