Killer snacks on Haribo moments before arrest for beating and beheading stranger
A new documentary showed the moment a killer was found eating Haribo sweets before he was arrested for the brutal murder of a stranger.
Luke Deeley, 26, walked into the home of June Fox-Roberts, 65, in Llantwit Fardre, south Wales, and viciously attacked her.
The illustration student, who was a paranoid schizophrenic, decapitated the mum-of-three then removed her limbs and put them in a plastic bag.
He fled the scene, leaving behind a ‘murder scene of nightmares’ to be discovered by June’s daughter, Abigail Sheppard, in late 2021.
June’s other daughter, Trish, told programme Code Blue: ‘It was extremely disturbing, extremely disturbing that somebody could have done that.
‘Such a heinous act, such a heinous act.’
The ITV documentary, which aired last night, showed the moment Deeley was tracked down and arrested.
After Abigail made a distressed 999 call, police rushed to June’s home and found large bloody footprints and fresh dye in the bathroom sink – suggesting the suspect had changed their hair colour as an attempt at a disguise.
Detective superintendent Darren George, head of major crime at South Wales Police, said in the documentary: ‘It was such a horrific murder and the acts post-murder were horrendous.
‘So we don’t know who the offender is. It’s a whodunit. We’ve got to find who this killer is and get them into custody as soon as we can.’
Aside from CCTV footage, there was little evidence to help officers.
But then a member of the public informed them of a man who appeared to be hiding at the back of an industrial estate – who they called ‘Container Man’ – and seemed to be wearing some of June’s daughter’s clothes.
When police officers arrived at the estate Deeley had vanished, but they found him sitting on the ground in a nearby village eating a packet of Haribo.
When they approached Deeley he claimed his name was Lewis Thomas and said: ‘I’ve been on a hike I have, bro.’
They asked him if he had anything he shouldn’t and he said he had a ‘nunchuck thing’.
The officer said: ‘Leave it where it is. Put your hands behind your back for a second. Take these sweets off you.’
He then handcuffed Deeley and put him in the back of a police van.
Deeley pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in March this year, which was accepted by the prosecution.
Newport Crown Court was told he was a paranoid schizophrenic who had been experiencing hallucinations at the time of the attack, and he said a ‘higher power’ had told him to make the killing.
He has been detained at a psychiatric hospital under the Mental Health Act.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.