Son used father's dismembered body parts 'as TV stand'

William Spiller's partner Glenys Molyneaux thought he was staying with a friend, the court heard

A man killed his 25-stone father, dismembered his corpse and put the body parts in plastic storage boxes he then used as a TV stand, a court has heard.

William Spiller's remains were found at a property in Lacey Court, Stedman Road, Bournemouth, in June 2013.

His son Nathan Robinson, 28, denies murder but admits manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.

Prosecutors told Winchester Crown Court he killed his father the previous month following an argument over money.

Nigel Lickley QC, prosecuting, told the jury Mr Robinson used a Stanley knife, hacksaw and a saw to cut up the body of his taxi driver father at the flat they shared.

'Packaged neatly'
Police were alerted when Mr Spiller's partner reported him missing after he stopped replying to her texts. She had thought he had been staying with a friend in the West Midlands.

The jury was told officers found the dismembered remains of Mr Spiller, who was 6'5", "packaged neatly" in plastic boxes in the flat. His head was found in a filing cabinet.

Jury members were shown photographs of the flat including plastic boxes containing body parts which were stacked with a television placed on top.

A neighbour who lived below noticed a "pink liquid" dripping through his bathroom ceiling.

Jurors were told the neighbour had previously heard an argument coming from their flat in which Mr Spiller said: "Do you expect me to keep subsidising you for the rest of my life?"

When he went to investigate the liquid, the defendant answered the door and was described as "very calm, just normal, very collected".

Mr Lickley said that Mr Robinson took at least £7,750 of his father's cash and spent up to £300 "drinking, eating and socialising" with friends in Glasgow, while sending text messages purporting to come from his dead father.

He also paid for a vegan weekend hotel stay in Bristol with his mother, who was estranged from Mr Spiller, the court heard.

Upon his arrest at his mother's home in Birmingham, Mr Robinson said: "is this a joke?", the court heard.


The trial continues.

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