Benjamin Day, a forensic science student, fatally stabbed Maria Saceanu, 24, at an Airbnb property he had prepared in advance for the attack, then proceeded to dismember her body. Plastic sheeting had been laid across the floor, walls, and bed of the room — an arrangement Day, aged 20, put in place as a reference to the American television drama.
A relative of Miss Saceanu recounted that the final contact attempt came around 8pm on the evening of her death — a call that went unanswered because the cousin was unwell at the time, a condition attributed to her pregnancy. At around 10pm, contact with her stopped, and no further communication was established. A relative who requested anonymity told reporters that not picking up when she called remains something they deeply regret. The same relative expressed a wish that the older woman might have lived to hold the newborn.
A pathologist appointed by the Home Office determined that neck injuries were the cause of Saceanu's death. Injuries to her hands were also noted, bearing the hallmarks of a defensive response to an attack.
A guilty plea to the murder of Ms Saceanu came from Day — whose father holds a directorship at a company — on the second day of proceedings against him. Witnesses at the proceedings described how he became absorbed by Dexter, a television series centred on a forensic technician who leads a hidden life carrying out killings outside any legal authority.
Contact with Miss Saceanu, who was listed on a website offering escort services, was made through a prepaid phone placed to her after half past nine on the evening of 20 December the previous year. About 50 minutes after setting off, she arrived at a property in Tividale, West Midlands — a three-bedroom letting listed on Airbnb at £40 per night.
Prosecutors told the court that no physical evidence pointed to sexual contact between the two, and that the woman had in all likelihood been killed shortly after reaching the property. Her belongings had been gathered into a black bin bag by Day, who intended to dispose of them as part of his broader course of action. His arrest came after a hand injury sustained while attempting to dispose of the victim's remains.
A cousin of Ms Saceanu's, while unwilling to discuss the nature of her work, told reporters that nothing could justify what had been done to her, adding that whatever occupation she had held was her own business — what mattered was that someone had taken her life. She asked whether anyone had ever questioned Day about the thinking behind those feelings.
A friend described Saceanu as someone who consistently placed others' needs ahead of her own, noting the two had been as close as sisters. Those who knew her spoke of the mutual affection between them, while one person close to her acknowledged finding it too painful to attend the funeral or visit the burial site, still unable to fully accept the loss.
Saceanu had grown up in Alexandria, a town in Teleorman, a county ranked among Romania's most economically deprived. Prior to settling in Tividale, her home had been in London. A relative of Saceanu — who had no siblings — recounted that her mother died in 2023.
A witness told the court that the two had shared a profound bond and that the loss had remained with her ever since, describing Saceanu as someone who routinely put others ahead of herself and who had held a deep wish to raise a family. The court also heard that Day abandoned the task of dismembering the body partway through after sustaining an injury, then left the property on foot, disposed of the prepaid phone during his departure, and stopped a passing patrol car to tell officers he had been hurt by a dog.
Around 1.05am, Day sent a text message to the Airbnb property owner requesting an extension of his booking to seven nights. Another guest at the property had by then spotted a blood trail and alerted the owner, who contacted police. Officers located Saceanu lying on the floor next to her bed. Forensic examination recorded a total of 78 separate stab wounds on her body.
At the time, Day was 19 years old and still living at home with his parents. He put forward a self-defence argument, telling the court he had arranged the room in order to record a tribute to Dexter that he intended to upload to TikTok. In his account to the court, he described Ms Saceanu reacting to the room by attacking him, with the injuries he sustained occurring as he attempted to take the weapon from her — leading him to stab her once or twice in the course of protecting himself. Police took Day into custody on a murder suspicion charge at 3.42am, while he was lying in a hospital bed. A December court date has been set for his sentencing.
Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson Jonathan Roe said that the conviction of Benjamin William Day brought the proceedings to a close — a trial in which Day had argued that Maria Saceanu bore responsibility for her own death by claiming she had struck him first. Prosecution evidence contradicted those claims during the trial, and he subsequently entered a guilty plea to the charge of murder.
Roe said pathology reports and forensic analysis formed the backbone of the proceedings, and that the presentation of that evidence left the defendant at a point at which he entered a guilty plea. He said the guilty plea had spared Maria's family from having to endure a lengthy court process, and that his thoughts remained with everyone who had been close to her.
Prosecutors contended at trial that Day's documented fixations set in motion the chain of events behind the victim's death — an outcome, they maintained, that no verdict can undo. The Crown Prosecution Service stated its commitment to pursuing justice on behalf of the victim and those close to her.
