A woman had a chilling conversation with her sister before she was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend.
Katie Kenyon was last seen getting into a van in Padiham, Lancashire on April 22 last year. An extensive investigation was launched by police and a public appeal to search and find the mum-of-two.
Tragically, the 33-year-old's body was found on April 29 in the Forest of Bowland. A post-mortem examination was carried out and concluded Katie had died from head injuries. Katie's ex-boyfriend Andrew Burfield, 51, was charged with her murder.
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Burfield initially pleaded not guilty to the charge, but later changed his plea and was given a minimum of 32 years in prison, with the prospect of never being released due to how dangerous he is. A documentary was issued by Lancashire Police about the case, with the support of Katie's family.
The documentary shed light on the police's investigation. One part of the programme showed Burfield's police interview. The 51-year-old at this point said he killed Katie by accident when he claimed he took Katie on a picnic on April 22 and she challenged him to knock a can of coke off her hand with an axe.
Burfield, of Todmorden Road, Burnley, claimed he told police it would "take her arm off" throwing the axe towards a tree instead, but the weapon hit Katie in the head instead and killed her with a single blow. The grave Katie was found in was so well concealed that a forensic archaeologist couldn't find it, the prosecution told the jury, with police only able to find it when Burfield showed officers where it was.
The prosecution slammed Burfield's account after a Home Office pathologist said Katie's body found was found with at least 12 blows to her head. Katie's family first became suspicious of Burfield when they received texts with poor grammar and spelling, noticeably different to the way she had messaged before, with it also being heard in court that Burfield had prepared the grave the day before and inflicted multiple head injuries with the axe.
The detective interviewing Burfield tells him that a lot of what he had told officers "does not add up" and they "did not believe that this had been an accident". Police also questioned Burfield about messages he sent to other women, including one where he was going to visit Scotland and even "buy a house".
Further on in the interview detectives revealed to Burfield they knew Katie herself had "concerns" about Burfield.
They said: "She even told her own sister. And basically what she said to her sister was 'if I go missing, it will be him', meaning you who has done it." Burfield is seen simply replying to detectives with "OK".
Standing before the court, Katie's sister Sarah paid an emotional tribute to her sister and recalled the seven days before Katie's body was found. She said: "The 22nd of April 2022 is a day none of us will forget when Katie was stolen from us. We knew immediately something wasn't right. Katie would never have left her children like that. We sensed Burfield was behind it.
"We went through a full week of torture. Who could she be with, was she alive? We lived in hope she would be found alive and she was safe as a coping mechanism but with each police visit we knew deep down it would not be a good outcome. We knew Burfield was not good for her.
"We were out of our minds with worry. The children did not know what was going on and were asking questions we did not know the answers to.
"I will never forget the day DCI Davies came to the house and told us he believed Katie was dead. At that stage, the police did now know where Katie was. We could not face telling the children and DCI Davies had to do that for us.
"We had to visit the forest where Katie was found. It was awful going up there knowing it was Katie's final journey, wondering what she was thinking. Being there and seeing the area was totally heartbreaking. We were totally numb. We saw Katie at the mortuary. Her face was bruised but she still looked so beautiful. She was behind glass. I wanted to hold her and say goodbye. Burfield took that from us.
"We have not been able to know what happened to Katie till now because we have had to be witnesses in the trial. The frustration from this has been unbearable. No one should have to go through it. We knew we needed to be strong as a family to get justice for Katie. I can't believe we have been put through the process of a trial. It is nothing like you can ever imagine. It was far worse.
"While we were trying to grieve the loss of Katie we had to give statements to the police and help with the investigation. To hear the guilty plea was a relief but we also feel our voices have not been heard. We wanted to stand up and speak for Katie. We do not believe he pleaded guilty for Katie, only himself.
"Every Christmas, birthday and holiday will be scarred by Katie's absence. She did not choose this, she was not unwell and this was not an accident. She was robbed of her life. Not only has Burfield taken Katie from us, he has taken our lives too. Her children have lost their mum in the most horrific way. She was mum, dad and best friend all in one. Katie was a fantastic mum. Our mum Dawn has had to become a mother to two grieving teenagers but to do this while grieving the loss of your daughter is so difficult.
"If Katie had died in natural circumstances would be bad enough. Katie told us she wanted to stop Burfield from being able to do to other women what he did to her. This cost her her life.
"Katie was beautiful and silly. The kids called her 'Aunty Crazy'. She made some stupid decisions but she had a beautiful soul. She loved the outdoors and she loved people. We will miss her and never forget her loss."
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