Benjamin Day, 20, admitted murdering Romanian sex worker Maria Saceanu in a plastic-lined Airbnb room in Tividale that prosecutors say copied the US TV drama Dexter.

A 20-year-old forensics student has admitted murdering a Romanian sex worker inside a plastic-lined Airbnb room in the West Midlands that prosecutors said was modelled on the US television drama Dexter.

Benjamin William Day pleaded guilty at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Tuesday, the second day of his trial, after previously denying the charge. He will be sentenced on 4 December, with a pre-sentence report to be prepared. Mr Justice Bryan KC presided.

A 'kill room' in Tividale

The victim, Maria Saceanu, was contacted shortly after 9:30pm on Saturday, 20 December last year. She had registered her details on Vivastreet, a platform used by sex workers to connect with clients, and drove to the rented property on Barncroft Road in the Tividale area around 50 minutes later.

Prosecutor Rachel Brand KC told the jury Day, then 19, had been inside the double-bedded room since about 5:30pm, preparing it. He killed Ms Saceanu within a very short time of her arrival.

A police search later uncovered a shopping list compiled on Day's phone a month in advance. It included knives, scissors, a mask, an apron, disposable gloves, duct tape, a staple gun, cleaning chemicals, a pipette, a duffle bag, latex gloves, number plates and "Hefty bags", the US term for heavy-duty black bin liners.

Day had "changed into his Dexter clothing" before the victim arrived, a khaki buttoned shirt. He was later arrested wearing the same style of top.

Seventy-eight wounds and an attempted dismemberment

A Home Office pathologist found 78 knife wounds on Ms Saceanu's body, many inflicted after death. The pathologist concluded she probably died from wounds to her neck that damaged the carotid arteries or jugular veins, and identified a number of defensive injuries to her hands.

There were attempts to dismember the body, evidenced by injuries to her elbow, wrist and knee. Day cut away her clothing with scissors and removed her jewellery, placing both in a bin bag. He cut his own left hand during the dismemberment, binding it with gaffer tape, and abandoned the task.

How the plan unravelled

Day left the property at about 12:30am on 21 December, walked some distance and called 999 at 12:50am after disposing of a "burner" phone. At 1:05am he texted the Airbnb landlord asking to extend his stay to a week, or at least two or three days.

He told police his hand injury had been caused by a fox or a wild dog. Officers found the explanation suspicious, not least because he had bound the wound himself. Day was taken to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley and arrested there at 3:42am.

The scheme was exposed partly by another guest at the property, who entered the building and saw a trail of blood before alerting the landlord. The landlord contacted police, who found Ms Saceanu's body. She had been reported missing by a friend of her partner.

The 'Dexter' connection

Brand told the jury there was "no dispute from the defence" that Day's fascination with Dexter played a part in his actions leading up to the killing. The show follows Dexter Morgan, a forensic scientist who is also a serial killer and knows how to conceal his crimes.

"His actions were those of a copycat, imitating the things he had seen in that programme," Brand said.

Day was expected to argue self-defence, claiming he had prepared the room to film a "tribute" to Dexter for posting on TikTok. Brand said there was no evidence of any sexual contact between Day and Ms Saceanu, and that she was targeted because she was "a person who could be hired and therefore lured to a particular place with the pretext that she was going to meet a client".

Victim and background

Ms Saceanu was from Romania. Day, of Yeadon Close, Redditch, Worcestershire, was a University of Worcester student who lived with his parents. He passed his first year studying journalism before transferring to applied biology and forensics.

Brand said the prosecution could not offer "the deep-seated psychological reasons" for the killing. "But what we can tell you is that he had become fascinated with a particular television drama series," she told the jury.

Day, who smirked and nodded toward the court clerk as he entered his plea, remains in custody ahead of sentencing.