West Midlands Police have released body-camera footage showing the street arrest of a forensics student who murdered a woman in a plastic-lined Airbnb “kill room” modeled on the TV drama Dexter.
Benjamin Day, now 20, was captured on Wednesday’s footage near the junction of Highview Street and Brewery Street in Dudley, bleeding from a hand wound he initially blamed on a fox attack. The former University of Worcester student, who was 19 at the time of the killing, had in reality sliced his own hand while attempting to dismember the body of Maria Saceanu, 24, a Romanian sex worker he had stabbed 78 times, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
Day pleaded guilty to murder on Tuesday after abruptly changing his plea following discussions with his barrister. He had been expected to claim self-defence and to argue he had prepared the room to film a TikTok “tribute” to the Showtime series about a vigilante serial killer. Instead, after an hour-long delay, he returned from the cells to the dock wearing a dark suit and maroon patterned tie, appeared to smirk, nodded toward the court clerk, and admitted guilt.
The court heard Day spent several hours meticulously preparing the Airbnb in Tividale, West Midlands, about 20 miles from his Redditch home. He lined the bedroom floor, walls and bed with plastic sheeting stapled to the surfaces. Police later recovered a canvas roll containing multiple knives, a staple gun and duct tape, along with an apron, plastic visor and cleaning materials.
Day left the property around 12:30 GMT on December 21 and walked some distance before flagging down a police car and calling 999 for medical help at 12:50. Officers questioned his story about a wild animal attack and quickly detained him, the trial was told. He was arrested wearing a khaki top in the style of the show’s protagonist.
At approximately 2:30 p.m. That same day, a landlord called police after tenants on Bancroft Road discovered blood at the bottom of the stairs. Officers searched the property and found Ms. Saceanu’s body next to the bed.
Detective Inspector Matt Marston, who led the investigation, said in a statement: “Day had an obsessive personality and had become obsessed with the character Dexter. He planned this murder in meticulous detail.”
“It was a pre-planned brutal attack on a defenceless woman lured to the room he had rented,” Marston continued.
“Day had flagged down officers where he offered them a fabricated story about the reason why he had received an injury to his hand. Officers were suspicious and he was quickly detained,” the detective inspector added.
“The details of this case shocked experienced officers and our thoughts continue to go out to the heartbroken family of Maria at this time,” Marston said.
Day was remanded in custody and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 4.