Man gave police a map showing where he buried woman

A man who admitted murdering a woman gave police a map showing where he had buried her remains, a court heard.

Julie Buckley, 55, whose body was missing for several months, was found in 10 pieces in a shallow grave in the Cambridgeshire village of Wimblington in September 2025 after the killer's disclosure, prosecutor Christine Agnew KC said.

Buckley was last seen alive on CCTV footage at a Budgens supermarket in the nearby town of March on 28 January 2025. The court heard she had been staying with Hutchings at his home in the village of Christchurch.

The barrister told Cambridge Crown Court on Monday that Karl Hutchings, 48, pleaded guilty last September to Buckley's murder.

The prosecutor said concerns were raised for Buckley's welfare after she failed to attend appointments.

Agnew said it appeared that Buckley was murdered between 29 and the morning of 30 January.

She said Buckley's phone was used on 29 January and that at 08:41BST the following day, Hutchings attended a One Stop shop and used her bank card to buy alcohol.

The prosecutor said he later sold her car for £500.

Hutchings, who had initially denied the murder before changing his plea, told a teacher at HMP Peterborough that he had "waited it out" before pleading guilty as he "hoped he could be dealt with on a diminished basis", Agnew said.

She said Hutchings told the teacher he had killed Buckley "because she had been stealing from him and had tried to convince him he was mad".

She added Hutchings also said he hit Buckley with a hammer over the head, which "made her woozy", adding: "He hit her over the head again, which finished her off."

A post-mortem examination indicated there had been 11 blows to Buckley's skull.

Agnew said Hutchings was arrested in February last year and "extensive blood staining" was found on a sofa at his home, part of the living room carpet was missing and that there were burnt items in the garden.

Allison Summers, mitigating for Hutchings, said he had a "long history of mental health problems and significant drug addiction".

She said Buckley had been homeless and Hutchings "felt sorry for her" and offered a place to stay.

She said the "precise trigger and exact sequence (of what happened) may never be known with any degree of certainty".

Summers said it was "likely to have started spontaneously when Hutchings lost it and began striking Ms Buckley".

She said Hutchings had been released from a psychiatric unit less than three months before the murder.

She said he had pleaded guilty after he was advised that a psychiatric report did not support a medical defence of diminished responsibility.

The judge, Mark Bishop, adjourned the case until Thursday when he is due to sentence Hutchings at Cambridge Crown Court.

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