Man pleads guilty to 1998 murder of Patricia Lashley
Trevor Dunkley admits to killing the 33-year-old woman and disposing of her remains after 28 years
Quick Look
- Trevor Dunkley, 66, has pleaded guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court to the 1998 murder of 33-year-old Patricia Lashley.
- Lashley went missing from Dudley in September 1998, and Dunkley admitted to disposing of her remains months after the killing.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Patricia Lashley disappeared in September 1998 from Dudley. The case remained unsolved for 28 years until the defendant's confession.
A man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a woman who went missing 28 years ago, after telling police he disposed of her decomposed body months after he killed her.
Patricia Lashley, who was 33 at the time, was last seen near her home on Hall Street, Dudley, in September 1998.
Trevor Dunkley, 66, pleaded guilty to her murder and a separate count of preventing her lawful burial at a hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday.
Dunkley's barrister Balbir Singh told Judge Michael Chambers KC that Lashley's body had never been found, and had decomposed after initially being put in the cellar.
"When he was moving about nine months to a year later, the skeleton was disposed of into the bins," Singh added.
Dunkley, of Himley Road, Dudley, showed no emotion in the dock as his barrister told the court that the charges had been brought based on a police interview.
He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the same court on 6 November.
Both charges covered a time period between 22 September and 28 September 1998, the court heard.
Several members of Lashley's family were present in the public gallery to see Dunkley enter his pleas.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Sentencing of Trevor Dunkley
Very likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What prompted the defendant to confess after 28 years?
