Man hit Bennylyn Burke in head with hammer, murder trial hears
Andrew Innes, 52, is accused of the murder of Bennylyn Burke, 25, and her daughter, Jellica, whose bodies were found in March 2021.
A girl who was in the house where a woman and her daughter were killed said accused Andrew Innes hit the 25-year-old mother in the head with a hammer.
Innes stands accused at the High Court in Edinburgh of murdering Bennylyn Burke and her daughter, Jellica, two, at a house in Dundee between February 20 and March 5 2021.
The 52-year-old has admitted killing the pair but denies murder, and has lodged a special defence of lacking criminal responsibility for the alleged murders and diminished responsibility.
On Tuesday, the 15-strong jury was played a recording of an interview given by a young girl who was in the house at the time of the alleged murder of Ms Burke.
She told the court Innes had a hammer and “put it in (Ms Burke’s) head”. She added the hammer was “heavy”.
The court also heard from Pc Gavin Burns, who was sent to the house in Troon Avenue after Ms Burke and Jellica had been reported missing and a car linked to the case had been linked to the address.
Pc Burns, speaking via a remote link, said Innes told him: “I killed her (Bennylyn). She’s under the floor. We got into a fight and I killed her.”
In the kitchen – under which the bodies would later be discovered – the police officer told the court he saw concrete on the floor.
Pc Burns told Advocate Depute Alex Prentice that when he started taking notes, Innes told him Ms Burke was under the kitchen floor and that he killed her following a fight.
The court was told Innes started to ask what the jail term for murder was but then said: “It wasn’t pre-meditated.”
The court heard the relationship broke down, and custody arrangements were put in place.
When she went missing, and after fruitless attempts to contact her, he alerted the authorities.
“My concerns had reached the point of extreme concern. I thought the proper thing to do was seek police assistance,” he said, and added he felt it was out of character for Ms Burke.
In the joint minutes, a document which states agreed facts in the case, it was revealed Innes met Ms Burke on an online dating app in 2021 and and drove her from Bristol to Dundee.
The document states he stabbed Ms Burke and hit her head with a knife handle and a hammer.
A post-mortem examination revealed Ms Burke, who weighed 5st 7lb, suffered a single stab wound to her chest, as well as head injuries, with pathologists having said the combined effects of internal bleeding and the injuries to her head caused her death.
Jellica was asphyxiated by means unknown, the court was told, with a post-mortem examination revealing that there had been pressure on the girl’s mouth and neck.
The court was told Innes wrapped a rubble bag, blanket and tarpaulin around the head of Ms Burke and hid her beneath the kitchen floor.
He also put the body of the two-year-old under the floor, the jury was told.
Innes is also is charged with sexually abusing the toddler and raping a seven-year-old girl. He denies all the charges against him.
Innes, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2021, was also diagnosed with having autism spectrum disorder.
The trial, before judge Lord Beckett, continues.
