A fan of TV serial killer Dexter has been found guilty of murdering two homeless men whose bodies were dismembered and hidden in woodland before he killed his cellmate while awaiting trial.
James Desborough, 40, murdered Claudio Aquilino, 57, and Daniel Coleman, 43, before dismembering and hiding their bodies in Cornwall last year.
The former builder is already serving a life sentence after he strangled his prison cellmate Steven Kempster at HMP Exeter while on remand awaiting this trial.
The triple murderer is now a serial killer having killed three men in separate incidents over five months.
A jury at Winchester Crown Court returned the unanimous guilty verdicts on Tuesday after deliberating for three hours and 15 minutes.
Desborough showed no emotion as the verdicts were read out.
The trial heard Mr Aquilino and Mr Coleman had previously lived with Desborough at a homeless hostel, and the last time they were both seen alive was in his company.
After their disappearances, the powerfully-built Desborough, who is 5ft 10in and weighs nearly 18st, went on to spend their money on drugs and alcohol.
Their bodies were dismembered in an area of Sticker Woods, near St Austell, where Desborough lived in a wooden cabin.
It was there that police discovered deposited in a stream 1,900 burned bone fragments from the body of Mr Aquilino.
Parts of Mr Coleman’s body, including his torso, legs and feet, were found in a shallow grave nearby.
Desborough told a forensic biologist who was searching the woods for Mr Coleman’s body that he “particularly enjoyed the dismemberment scenes” in the television series Dexter.
Police found several handwritten notes inside Desborough’s cabin, including one headed: “Bug out list” and another: “Hostiles”.
Among the notes were one which said: “I know I am a killer and ready to execute any predators” and another that said: “Take care of the remaining muppets,” with Mr Coleman’s name also listed.
Desborough also drew a series of concentric circles with Sticker Woods in the centre, and London and Benidorm listed at the outer point, which was entitled: “Kill Zone”, and the sub-heading: “Operational spheres”.
He had also made plans to the leave the UK weeks before he was arrested.
The father-of-one denied both murders and told the jury it was a “series of unfortunate circumstances” the two men died on his land within a short space of time.
Desborough killed Mr Aquilino, who had addictions to drugs and gambling, shortly after he was last seen alive in April last year.
The defendant maintained he had in fact while high on ketamine found Mr Aquilino, who had a history of suicidal ideation, hanging dead from a tree on his land in May or early June.
And his role was helping Mr Coleman – who had dismembered and burnt the remains alone – dispose of Mr Aquilino’s body in a stream, Desborough said.
He said Mr Coleman calmed him down and convinced him to dispose of the body and carry on using Mr Aquilino’s bank card.
“The idea was to cover up the death, carry on using his card. I’m not proud of it, it was like dangling the carrot,” he said.
“I was homeless, jobless, I had no money and addiction problems.”
He also denied murdering Mr Coleman in the early hours of June 4, and instead insisted he had returned to his cabin later that month and found him lying naked, face down and dead in a stream.
Worried about there already being one dead body on his land and that he was in possession of Class A drugs, he dismembered Mr Coleman using an axe and buried the remains.
He accepted then spending their money on beer and drugs, but told jurors: “They were friends, I got on well with them.”
Desborough, of Old Oak Woods, Lower Sticker, Cornwall, had previously pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of the two men’s bodies.
Timeline: The murder spree of serial killer James Desborough
– End of 2024 until March 7, 2025: Daniel Coleman is living at Sandy Lodge, Newquay, which is accommodation for people suffering with homelessness or addictions. He was evicted after his relationship with his wife, Hannah Creswell ended.
– December 2024 until April 8, 2025: Desborough is also living at Sandy Lodge.
– January 9 until April 11: Claudio Aquilino is living at Sandy Lodge until he is evicted for stealing another resident’s phone.
– April 17: Mr Aquilino phones the police because he is concerned about Desborough trying to get him involved in committing a crime. He describes Desborough as “really off his head” and “kamikaze”.
– April 18: Mr Aquilino is last seen alive that evening in a pub in Newquay in the company of Desborough and another man.
– April 19: Financial investigators found no evidence Mr Aquilino is alive after this date.
– May: Mr Coleman is living in Sticker Woods in a tent with Ms Creswell on land owned by Desborough.
– May 29: Daniel Coleman is last seen alive by Rowena Moore, a charity worker working with people with addiction issues.
– May 31: Mr Coleman phones 101 expressing concerns for Ms Creswell’s safety.
– June 1: Desborough tells Mr Coleman and Ms Creswell to leave his land.
– June 2: Mobile phone contact between Mr Coleman and a friend stops. After this date, calls go to voicemail.
– June 3: The last day Mr Coleman is seen alive. He is captured on CCTV at 8.38pm.
– June 4: In the early hours he is murdered by Desborough.
– June 18: He is reported missing to police by Ms Moore.
– June 30: Desborough is arrested in connection with bank card fraud against Mr Coleman and Mr Aquilino. Later that day he is arrested on suspicion of murdering Mr Coleman. Police start searching his cabin in Sticker Woods.
– July 2: Police carry out further searches of the cabin and recover travel plans which suggest Desborough is planning to leave the UK on July 15.
– July to November: Police and forensic experts carry out searches of Sticker Woods and recover the remains of Mr Coleman and Mr Aquilino.
– July 9: Desborough charged with the murder of Mr Coleman.
– September 15: While on remand at HMP Exeter, Desborough strangles cellmate Steven Kempster, 65.
– September 17: Desborough charged with Mr Kempster’s murder.
– October 28: Desborough charged with Mr Aquilino’s murder.
– March 16, 2026: Desborough goes on trial at Exeter Crown Court accused of the murder of Mr Kempster. He is later convicted of that murder.
– June 22: The murder trial of Mr Coleman and Mr Aquilino begins at Winchester Crown Court.
– July 28: Desborough is convicted of murdering Mr Coleman and Mr Aquilino.
