A 61-year-old man who confessed to an unsolved murder more than four decades ago and denied it in court has been jailed for life.
John Paul, who was 19 or 20 at the time, tied up 42-year-old Anthony Bird at the victim’s flat in an upmarket area of Kensington, west London, and ‘mercilessly’ beat him to death with a lump of wood in June 1980.
Mr Bird’s body was found naked and bound by his wrists with planks nearby, while the property appeared to have been ‘ransacked’.
But the case went cold, with no new leads until Paul walked into Hammersmith police station in May 2021 saying he wanted to report a crime.
Jurors at the Old Bailey were told the desk clerk asked him what type of crime, to which he replied: ‘Murder.’
The court heard how he then told an officer: ‘[Mr Bird] approached me and just spoke to me and just talked me into having sex with him.
‘He took me back to his place. I tied him with cord. I think the cord was black, I’m not sure. I tied him with a cord, his ankles, his hands, his arms, on the bed naked.
‘There was a piece of wood. I used the piece of wood to batter him.
Paul’s fingerprints were taken and matched to evidence from the crime scene, prompting him to be charged with murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.
But he denied both charges in court, with the defence claiming that his confession was not reliable.
It was argued that even if he was responsible for Mr Bird’s death, he did not intend to do him serious harm.
The jury deliberated for half a day before finding the defendant guilty of murder.
Sentencing him to life with a minimum term of 19 years, she said: ‘It was merciless and motivated by a wish to take that which did not belong to you.
‘I have no doubt this was a murder done for gain. You decided he was a target you could exploit.’
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