ANDREW INNES BRUTALLY MURDERS MUM AND TODDLER IN DUNDEE AND BURIED THEM UNDER THE KITCHEN FLOOR
In a chilling case that has shocked the community of Dundee, Andrew Innes, aged 52, has been sentenced to a minimum of 36 years in prison after being convicted of the horrific murders of a young woman and her two-year-old daughter.The tragic events unfolded between February 20 and March 5, 2021, and the court heard harrowing details of the crimes that have left a lasting scar on the families involved.
According to court records, Innes met Bennylyn Burke, a 25-year-old woman originally from the Philippines who had relocated to Dundee from Bristol during the COVID-19 lockdown, through a dating website.
Their relationship took a dark turn, culminating in a violent attack that saw Innes bludgeon Ms.
Burke with a hammer before stabbing her with a samurai sword.
Witnesses and evidence presented during the trial described Innes as being ‘apocalyptically angry’ at the time of the assault.
Three days after the murder of Ms.
Burke, Innes murdered her young daughter, Jellica, during a game of hide and seek.
The court heard that Innes had sexually abused Jellica and also raped another girl found at his home in Dundee.
The details of these crimes were among the most disturbing to be presented in a Scottish court, with evidence revealing the extent of Innes’s brutality.
Following the murders, Innes concealed the bodies by burying them beneath the kitchen floor of his residence on Troon Avenue.
The bodies were discovered on March 18, 2021, after police investigations uncovered the disturbing burial site.
During the trial, Innes admitted to killing Ms.
Burke and Jellica but denied the charge of murder, claiming a defense of diminished responsibility.
He told police that Ms.
Burke was ‘under the kitchen floor’ and, when asked about Jellica’s whereabouts, he chillingly responded, ‘Under the floor with mum.
I couldn’t look after a child.
The child was screaming.’ Relatives of Bennylyn Burke, who traveled from the Philippines to attend the trial, described her as the ‘hope and light of the family’ and expressed their grief and sense of loss.
They shared a victim impact statement, stating, ‘A big part of our family has been torn from us.
We shall never see Bennylyn and Jellica again.
We shall never know our beloved Jellica or ever see her grow up.’ They also expressed a mixture of sorrow and a sense of justice, saying, ‘But the jury’s guilty verdict for murder provides some comfort to our family and friends and brings justice for Bennylyn and Jellica.’ During the trial, Innes sobbed as he gave evidence, initially claiming that he acted in self-defense after Ms.
Burke lunged at him with a sushi knife.
However, the court heard that he rained blows on her head and stabbed her, claiming that she reminded him of his estranged wife and jilted lover.
The court also heard from a girl who was at the scene, describing how Jellica died during the game of hide and seek, and that she was unable to save them because she ‘didn’t know what was happening.’ Innes’s defense also included claims that he had been hearing voices and was insane due to steroid use prescribed for Crohn’s disease.
Nonetheless, a psychiatrist testified that Innes was not impaired at the time of the murders and was fully responsible for his actions.
The court was shown evidence that Innes had dug the graves and then replaced the floor after burying the bodies, claiming, ‘I dug them in a respectable grave and gave them a Christian burial then replaced the floor.
That’s all I did,’ he stated.
Ultimately, the court found Innes guilty of two counts of murder, and Judge Lord Beckett sentenced him to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 36 years, ensuring he will remain behind bars for decades to come.
The case has left a community and families devastated, with the memory of Bennylyn Burke and Jellica forever etched in their minds as a tragic reminder of the depths of human cruelty.
