British 'Cannibal' Confesses to Murdering, Eating Woman, Gets 12 Years
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A British man who made a full confession to murdering and dissecting the body of a woman in Spain has been jailed.
Paul Leonard Durant, 47, had even claimed that he ate parts of his victim Karen Durrel.
After a dramatic plea bargain in a Spanish court, he will now be jailed for 12 years for manslaughter.
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His admission of killing Durrel, 41, came only minutes after he denied the allegation in a court in Alicante, Costa Blanca.
Karen was beaten to death with a mallet at her Spanish home, close to Benidorm, southern Spain.
Her body has never been found.
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Durant initially denied killing Karen on the night of February 18-19, 2004.
He also rejected allegations from state prosecutor Imaculada Palau that he had cut-up and disposed of her body.
What he did not know was that Ms Palau, with the agreement of the presiding judge, had reached a plea deal with his own defense lawyer.
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The deal would see Durant sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for manslaughter - rather than the original demand of 18 years for murder.
Asked if this had been explained to him by his defense lawyer, Durant said: "No. I haven't seen him for nearly four years when I was remanded in custody."
The judge then allowed the lawyer to speak to his client.
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After just three minutes explaining the deal through an interpreter, Durant returned to the stand.
Asked again if he agreed he had killed Karen, he replied: "Yes."
But when he was asked if he had cut-up and disposed of her body, he said: "No. I just left her there."
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Durant then received his plea terms:
:: 12 years imprisonment for manslaughter:: Three months for stealing Karen's credit card and mobile phone, and :: Six months for an unrelated offence of breaking and entering a house at the resort of Denia six days after Karen died.
At the time of his arrest, Durant had told, in a police statement, how he beat Karen to death with a mallet.
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He then went on to describe how he cut-up the body in the bathroom of her flat with a knife and a saw before putting the parts into rubbish bags.
He then stuffed them in a suitcase which he placed in a bin in the street.
And in a letter later sent from his prison cell to a British tabloid newspaper, Durant even claimed he had eaten "all the bits that were (sic) eatable".
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A statement released by Karen's family said: "We derive little comfort from what happened here today.
"We cannot find closure and move on with the rest of our lives at this moment."