Guilty: Whitechapel man who murdered fiancee after she threatened to leave him

Bangla sanglap desk: A Whitechapel man has been found guilty of murdering his fiancee in a “vicious and brutal attack” after she threatened to leave him.

Amy Parsons was murdered at her home in Whitechapel. Picture: Met Police

Roderick Deakin-White, 38, bludgeoned Amy Parsons, 35, with a metal bar while she was showering at their Crowder Street, Whitechapel flat in April.

He denied murder but was found guilty today (Tuesday, November 19) following a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

The court heard how Deakin-White, who had a cross-dressing habit, had been in a relationship with Ms Parsons for several years and relied on her for financial support. He did not work and she paid the rent for their flat.

Ms Parsons, who was originally from Australia, had told friends that she was increasingly unhappy with the relationship, and a few weeks prior to the murder had started seeing a colleague – something she told Deakin-White about.

Jurors were told the couple began to argue and Deakin-White tried to monitor what Ms Parsons was doing, accessing her laptop and spying on her taxi account.

He also began stalking Ms Parsons, following her home from work, and he began to express his anger to friends, messaging one friend to say; “I hate her”. To another friend he messaged “I’m going to do something stupid, I just know it.”

On the day she died, Ms Parsons had told a friend at lunch that she needed to resolve the situation and would speak to Deakin-White about their relationship.

While she was showering in the flat, Deakin-White attacked her with a metal bar in what a pathologist found was a sustained and forceful assault with a heavy, blunt object. The multiple blows to her head fractured her skull and caused brain damage.

Forensic experts believe she could have been alive for up to an hour after the attack.

A neighbour heard a woman screaming but didn’t realise what was happening.

The following day, Deakin-White rang his father and told him he was a murderer. His fater immediately ran 999 and asked for an ambulance to go to the flat.

Police and paramedics forced entry to the Crowder Street property and found Ms Parsons dead in the bath.

Meanwhile, Deakin-White was in Edmonton and spoke to a man about what he had done.