Murder accused told police he killed missing woman Bennylyn Burke

A man accused of murder told police he had killed a missing mother and that her body was under his kitchen floor, a trial has heard.

Officers had gone to Andrew Innes' home in Dundee looking for Bennylyn Burke and her two-year-old daughter Jellica.

He has admitted killing Bennylyn, 25, and Jellica and burying their bodies in February or March 2021.

But the 52-year-old denies murdering the mother and daughter, claiming he had diminished responsibility.

He is also accused of sexually assaulting Jellica Burke and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

Innes faces a further charge of raping another child. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

A joint minute of evidence agreed between prosecutors and Innes' defence team as being uncontroversial was read to a jury at the start of the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Junior prosecution counsel Frankie Morgan said Innes had caused Bennylyn's death by stabbing her with a knife and repeatedly hitting her on the head with the handle of the knife and a hammer. Jellica died of asphyxiation.

Mr Morgan said Innes then put their bodies in rubble bags and concealed them in concrete beneath the kitchen floor of his home.

The joint minute says a post-mortem examination found that Bennylyn's death was the result of a single stab wound to the chest and blunt force head injuries.

Bennylyn, who was originally from the Philippines, had met Innes online before travelling with him from Bristol to his home in Dundee in February 2021.

The following month the bodies of Bennylyn and Jellica were found hidden under his kitchen floor.

'I killed her'

PC Gavin Burns told the court that he and a colleague had been sent to Innes' house in Dundee after Bennylyn had been reported missing.

He said Innes was initially reluctant to let them in, citing Covid shielding, but eventually relented.

Innes said a young girl in the property was his daughter, but when questioned by the officers, she made clear that this was not the case. 

Innes initially claimed that he had driven Bennylyn and Jellica to Glasgow and had left them with another man.

However, after repeated questioning about Bennylyn's location, he admitted: "She is under the kitchen floor."

Under caution, Innes then added: "I killed her. We got into a fight and I killed her."

He later asked the police officer what kind of sentence you get for murder, and said that it "wasn't premeditated".

The court was closed to the public while video evidence recorded with a child on the day of Innes' arrest was played to the jury.

The girl described sexual acts she had been told to carry out by Innes and said she had been handcuffed on one occasion.

The child went on to describe seeing Innes striking Bennylyn on the head with a hammer.

The girl said Bennylyn was trying to say something, but she "couldn't hear it".

The trial earlier heard evidence from Bennylyn's former husband and Jellica's father, Lexington Burke.

Mr Burke, 65, said the couple had separated but he had access to see Jellica on 19 February 2021.

He told the court that he had reported Jellica missing after Bennylyn failed to respond to his messages that weekend.

The trial at the High Court in Edinburgh continues.