CW: mentions/light description of sexual violence, murder, and cannibalism.
Defendant name: Andrew F Moore (A.M.)
Age: 36
Court: Leeds Crown Court
Judge: Judge Henry Stevens QC (J.S.)
Country: England & Wales
Date: 20-10-2008
Offence: Murder
Sentence: Custodial Immediate
Length: 30 Years - Life
Defence Chambers: Furnival Chambers
Defence Barrister: Ron Smithers QC (R.S.)
Prosecuting Chambers: St. Paul’s Chambers
Prosecuting Barrister: Oliver Sullivan QC (O.S.)
REPORTER’S PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
O.S.: What is it that made you want to become a chef, Andrew?
A.M.: I was always good at it. I’d been meaning to go for it further, you know, before I was scouted.
O.S.: And what changed, again, in the last several years?
A.M.: I turned thirty.
O.H.: How did turning thirty affect you, specifically?
A.M.: The gigs dried up fast.
O.H.: Of course. I see. Is that also why you decided to kill Daniel? Was it a resentment stemming from that?
A.M.: No. I still don’t remember.
O.H.: Is it no, or is it that you don’t remember?
A.M.: I don’t remember.
O.H.: Do you remember declaring yourself heterosexual in several of your personal emails?
A.M.: How is that relevant?
O.H.: You probably also recall admitting that you only ever entered these competitions because you succeeded in them. .
A.M. Yes. And?
O.H.: It was easy for you to win them, what with your face and your physique. I saw the sashes hanging in your apartment. It’s all quite impressive, really. I watched some of the clips, those bar crowds endlessly praising you and calling out your name. You were not only the first Mr. Gay UK, but possibly the most highly decorated one to date. I’m sure it’s been quite lucrative. Is that correct?
A.M.: Sure.
O.H.: Explain to me then why you invited Daniel Littlefield in for a romantic evening on the night of the 23rd? Why hid you invite him into your home if you are indeed confidently heterosexual?
A.M.: Yeah, well, I’m not always confident, you know.
O.H.: That’s a rather convenient thing for you to express here and now—don’t you agree? It is noted that you’d told Daniel in your texts that you wanted to take things slow; to me, that doesn’t sound like the request of a man genuinely interested in his date.
A.M.: I said that because I was nervous. I only wanted to make him dinner, watch a movie, and just see how I felt about it. How I felt about him.
O.H.: And you felt that you had an influence on him. The fact that he’d been an audience member on your episode of God’s Gift… he was one of many screaming for your attention, hoping to be picked by you for the prized date. Wasn’t he? So you knew that you had power over him, still, for that reason.
A.M.: That was a long time ago. It was just a coincidence. I didn’t intentionally target him or anything.
O.H.: I see. Was it also just a coincidence, then, when you stabbed him thirty-six times, on the night of the 23rd?
A.M.: No. I mean, I don’t know.
O.H.: How about when you slashed his throat? Or when you cut out sections of his thigh and his chest?
A.M.: I just don’t remember.
O.H.: You know what seems the most intentional about what you did, Andrew? You seasoned all of the meat you cooked! You seasoned it. With herbs; with garlic! You were so precise in the way you prepared and served Daniel’s flesh to yourself. The officers said that your apartment smelled quite lovely.
A.M.: I’m not trying to pretend that I didn’t do all of it. I know that I did.
O.H.: Sure, but I’ve been a prosecutor for a long time now, and I have never seen any act of violence—certainly not one as precise and adept as yours—be a result of the state that you’re so claiming for yourself.
A.M.: Well, I already told you that cooking is what I’ve always known best. So I’m not so much surprised that it’s what I would go back to, in that sort of extreme panic.
O.H.: What would you be panicking about?
A.M.: Like I said, the last thing I remember is still just waking up to his head between my legs. And like I told you, all I remember after that is just me screaming.
O.H.: Okay. And nothing, afterwards?
A.M.: That’s it. I have no clue.
O.H.: But you remember it setting something off in you, don’t you? When you started to scream?
A.M.: Meaning?
O.H.: The feeling you had in that moment—it must have been memorable to you. Now, and also then, too. Has there been another incident like that that could have made you vulnerable to such blinding anger?
A.M.: Such as?
O.H.: For instance, has any person forced oral sex upon you in the past? Perhaps, such an incident was so upsetting that you lost control when it happened again?
A.M.: Oh. Well… I think that depends.
O.H.: Hm? It depends on what?
A.M.: You said you watched the clips, didn’t you?
End
Appendix
Some creative liberties taken, this piece is based on the 2008 killing of Damien Oldfield by former model Anthony Morley.
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