A father and son have been found guilty of killing a suspected thief in a premeditated murder.
David King and his 19-year-old son Edward King killed Neil Charles after seeing him try on door handles and houses in Bury St Edmunds last June.
Charles was stabbed on June 20 and died two days later in hospital. A pathologist found that there was a 12 cm puncture wound in the chest.
The jury was told that police had found David King on Winsford Road, somewhere in his home, and Charles further down the road. They said the victim had walked away from the kings’ house when he was killed. David King had a double-edged knife resembling a dagger, and his son had a 27-inch ninja sword.
David called police at 3.55 a.m., saying a man was trying to steal from his car at the Morton Hall mansion in Suffolk.
The 55-year-old told callers that he tried to stop Charles, who escaped, and admitted that he had a knife in his hand and wounded the thief before fleeing. He told the jury that Charles had come across his knife. Both men deliberately denied Charles’ murder.
However, the Ipswich Crown Court heard that they were outside with weapons to pursue Charles in a vigilant act, and did not call police to investigate after spotting a video surveillance thief.
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The father’s knife was used to assassinate Charles, and Edward’s sword inflicted a horizontal wound above the 47-year-old man’s left knee. It was also used to cut Charles’ bicycle tire.
David King was arrested at the scene and his son Edward later that day.
The text messages read during the trial showed that they were “fascinated” by the weapons and discussed the desire to deal with all the alleged criminals on their own after a series of thefts at the local level.
The kings were found guilty of murder by unanimous sentence on Monday. They are on remand in custody and will be sentenced later.
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