A gambling addict burglar who murdered an 86-year-old woman while searching her home for £30,000 in cash ‘followed the victim’s husband home from a betting shop’, a friend has said.

Vasile Culea, 34, was convicted of murdering Freda Walker at Derby Crown Court. 

He was also convicted of wounding with intent the victim’s 88-year-old husband; former district councillor and alderman Kenneth Walker, at their Derbyshire home on January 14.

Prosecutor Michael Auty QC described the couple as being found ‘bound, hog-tied, gagged and left to their fate’ in an attack ‘devoid of mercy’.

Romanian national Culea ‘hog-tied’ Mr and Mrs Walker, binding their hands and feet, while searching the couple’s Langwith Junction home in Derbyshire for £30,000 in cash, which he had heard they had.

The cash did exist but was only discovered afterwards by police search teams, with the jury hearing evidence Mr Walker had forgotten where he had stored the money in the home.

One of Mr Walker’s oldest friends may have uncovered the mystery of how Vasile Culea knew there was £30,000 cash in their house.

After the verdict, Brian Murray-Carr revealed that Culea had confronted Mr Walker and demanded money in a betting shop just days before the attack.

Mr Murray-Carr, 89, who worked with Mr Walker in the mining industry and then followed him into local politics, said: ‘The information relayed to me was that Ken had withdrawn some money from the Lloyds Bank in Shirebrook and this had been witnessed by the man who was in the dock.

‘Later that day Ken went into a betting shop in Shirebrook and there was a confrontation between them where that man demanded money.

‘My suspicion is that he followed Ken home and that is how he knew where he lived.’

Mr Murray-Carr added: ‘I had great respect for Ken both what he did as a councillor on Bolsover district council and as a colleague in the mining industry. I hope when he is sentenced that life will mean life.’

Vasile Culea pictured in footage of the moment he was arrested over the murder of Freda Walker

The footage showed him being handcuffed by police and asked to confirm his name 

Footage has been released showing the moment police arrested Culea. Officers are seen kicking down the door of a property and shouting ‘stay where you are’ before they find him in a bedroom and handcuff him. 

The footage then shows Culea in a police cell with his hands handcuffed behind his back, as he’s told he’s under arrest for the murder of Freda Walker. 

Romanian national Culea had bound the elderly couple’s hands and feet while searching their home for £30,000 in cash he claimed to have found out about after overhearing two strangers chatting about it in a shop.

He demanded to know where the money was and Mr Walker, who had hidden the cash in random places around their home and could not recall where he had put it, had to watch as Culea tortured his wife.

Mrs Walker, who also had a bag put over her head and died of a brain injury, was found dead in the kitchen by emergency services the following day after neighbours raised concerns.

The court heard Mr Walker died some months later, although his death was not connected to the attack.

Couple Kenneth and Freda Walker, who were ‘hog-tied’ in their home by Vasile Culea

Culea, 34,  has been convicted of murdering Freda Walker at Derby Crown Court

CCTV footage previously released showed Culea entering several betting shops in Shirebrook and Mansfield on the morning of the attack before making his way to the couple’s home

Culea had already admitted manslaughter of Mrs Walker and the grievous bodily harm of her husband, but prosecutors said he was guilty of fabricating ‘a nonsense’ to cover up for an attack on the couple that went ‘far beyond any justification; savage in its nature – and sustained’.

Culea, who fled with £300 from a handbag after getting ‘scared’ by sounds of a car outside, repeatedly lied about how the couple suffered the injuries. 

Jurors heard the victims suffered ‘frankly horrific’ injuries and that Mrs Walker had a reasonable prospect of survival had she not been ‘abandoned without any assistance’ and ‘with coverings to her face obstructing her airway’, according to Michael Auty KC, prosecuting.

Footage of Culea being arrested – he was arrested after DNA on a baseball cap left at the scene was matched to him

A court sketch of Culea during a previous hearing – he has now been found guilty of murdering Freda Walker at Derby Crown Court

The jury of 11 men and one woman unanimously convicted the 34-year-old after just two hours and 15 minutes, having heard his claim that he injured Mrs Walker after ‘slipping’ on a spilt drink and stepping on her chest, after she ‘fell over’ during his attack.

The couple, who had lived in the same home for all of their 60 years of marriage, were at the heart of their local community.

Freda, a retired seamstress, volunteered for charities, and Ken, formerly an accountant, still served on Langwith Town Council and had been a Bolsover district councillor for the Labour Party.

Culea, by contrast, was a relatively new arrival in the area, and lived in a shared house in Church Warsop, three miles away.

The couple, who had lived in the same home for all of their 60 years of marriage, were at the heart of their local community 

The trial heard that he had fallen into rent arrears and by January was £11,000 in debt due to heavy gambling.

On January 14, he began the day by visiting four different betting shops in the area where he lost a further £250.

He then remembered overhearing a conversation in a shop in Shirebrook about a house in Langwith Junction where a wealthy couple lived.

It is unclear how he knew that Mr Walker had recently taken out £30,000 in cash for home improvements but he said he intended to sneak into the house, hide and find the money while the couple slept.

Around lunchtime, he began to scope the area. The court heard he carried out seven reconnaissance missions on the couple’s house and CCTV picked up his Audi A4 car repeatedly passing their home.

Eventually, he parked up and after twice walking past the house on foot, sneaked in through an unlocked back door after 7pm. 

He admitted beating the pensioners after they discovered him hiding in their utility rooms and tied up their hands and feet as he demanded to know where the money was.

Ken, who had hidden the cash in random places around their cluttered home, could not recall where he had put it and had to watch as Culea tortured his wife.

Culea was arrested at a property in Church Warsop, Nottinghamshire, five days after the incident

CCTV captured Vasile Culea in the area around the Walker’s home during that day in his Audi A4

Mr Auty, prosecuting, said: ‘Imagine, if you can, the fear, imagine the stress. Ken would have handed it over in a heartbeat if it would have saved Freda suffering.’

Culea said he abandoned the couple after panicking when he heard a car pull up outside.

He was captured on CCTV walking away from the house knowing he had left its occupants, bleeding profusely, tied up and unable to rescue themselves.

Concerned neighbours found their bodies the following morning lying in pools of blood. Mrs Walker, who suffered 25 separate injuries, was dead and Mr Walker was in a critical condition. He died three months before the trial from natural causes.

Pathologist Dr Michael Biggs told the jury of 11 men and one woman: ‘I went to the kitchen and she was lying on her left side with her arms around her back, they had been tied together around both wrists and tied around the ankles.

‘There was a black bag around her face and there was a cloth around her head and face and there was copious blood around the body. There was blood splatter on the walls.’

Police and forensic officers at the murder scene in Langwith Junction, Derbyshire

The discovery of the bodies prompted an intensive police investigation. Culea was arrested after DNA on a baseball cap left at the scene was matched to him.

He had one previous conviction of assault against a former girlfriend from 2017, meaning his DNA was on the police database.

Temporary Detective Inspector Carolyne Van Schaick said: ‘Freda and Kenneth Walker had been members of the Shirebrook community throughout their lives, contributing to life in the area both through their work, their involvement in the local council and through their caring and social natures in general.

‘All their friends and family have told of how they have both led hardworking lives and always put others first.

‘There is no doubt that having worked so hard over the years that Freda and Kenneth deserved a long, happy retirement and peace in their later years.

Police thanked the family of both Ken and Freda ‘who have shown courage throughout this terrible time’

‘This was taken away from them back in January when Vasile Culea, believing the couple had money in the address, went in with the intention to steal from them.

‘When he encountered Freda and Kenneth, he assaulted them, killing Freda and leaving Kenneth for dead. The methods he used were truly shocking.

‘Whilst Kenneth may have survived the attack, he had lost his wife and lived out his remaining days requiring constant care before he sadly passed away shortly before this case was due to be heard.

‘I would like to thank the family of both Ken and Freda who have shown courage throughout this terrible time, as well as the community of Shirebrook who have supported each other, and this investigation, throughout.

‘Whist this verdict can never reverse Culea’s actions on that night I do hope it provides some consolation to those affected by this horrific crime that justice has been done.’

Culea, dressed in a grey sweatshirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, closed his eyes as the jury foreman delivered the verdict. 

Speaking on the steps outside Derby Crown Court following the verdict, Mr and Mrs Walker’s niece Sandra Bunting wiped away tears as she said: ‘I am numb but glad they have got the right verdict.

‘How anybody could inflict that pain and torture I don’t know. I hope he gets a very long sentence. He was calculating, he was cruel and he had no conscience. All he wanted was money, money they had worked all their lives for.

‘Freda was the most caring person. She loved everybody and had time for everybody. She was a happy person. She is missed by everyone who knew her.’

Mr Justice Henshaw said he would carry out sentencing of Culea, of Church Warsop, back at the court on Friday.