2013 murder in the United Kingdom
50°48′42″N 0°50′55″W / 50.81164°N 0.84854°W / 50.81164; -0.84854
Valerie Graves (25 December 1958[citation needed] – 29/30 December 2013) was an artist and grandmother who was murdered in December 2013 in Bosham, West Sussex, England.[1]
Life
Graves had two adult children and had owned a gallery and craft studio in Roxburghshire, having lived in Scotland for ten years.[2][3] She had moved to Bracklesham Bay not long before the murder to look after her then 87-year-old mother Eileen.[2]
Christmas 2013
Eileen, Valerie, her sister Janet, and Janet's partner, Nigel, were housesitting in Smugglers Lane, Bosham, for friends who were out of the country at the time.[1][2] Several members of her family and friends visited the house over this time and enjoyed both the Christmas celebrations and Valerie's birthday, which was on Christmas Day.[1]
Murder
On the morning of 30 December, Janet found Graves's body in her bedroom, having suffered severe head and facial injuries.[3] A patio door, leading directly from the bedroom outside to the back of the premises, was found to be unlocked.[1]
Investigation
A few days after the murder, a hammer was found by police at the entrance to the driveway of Harts' Farm on Hoe Lane, some 600m from the murder scene.[1] The hammer was confirmed to be the murder weapon.[1] A local man was arrested on 14 January 2014 and questioned about the murder, but was bailed and released without further action.[1]
In November 2014, a partial DNA profile for the suspect was obtained.[1] In January 2015, Sussex Police began a voluntary mass DNA screening programme in Bosham, asking men aged 17 and over to give samples.[4] At the time, officers had interviewed 9,500 people in relation to the case, a reward of £20,000 had been offered and the murder had been featured on Crimewatch.[1]
In July 2019 Cristian Sabău was arrested in his home in Dej, Romania on a European Arrest Warrant.[5] Sussex Police sought his extradition.[5] He appeared in court in Cluj-Napoca.[5][6]
He was extradited to the UK and was scheduled to appear before Brighton Magistrates' court on 20 July 2019.[7] He was remanded in custody with a further court appearance scheduled for 30 September.[8]
Conviction
In November 2019 Sabău was convicted of her murder after pleading guilty.[9] The prosecutor said that Sabău had entered the house with the intent to burgle it, expecting it to be empty.[9] He had been told that a safe in the house contained a large amount of cash and ingots.[9] He had previously done odd jobs for the owners.[9] When he encountered Valerie Graves he attacked her with a hammer, leaving injuries that the prosecution compared to those sustained in traffic accidents.[9] Judge Christine Laing jailed him for life with a minimum term of 23 years and 272 days.[9]
Television
The murder was the subject of the Sky documentary series Killer in My Village (Season 4, Episode 8).[10]
References
