Arabic version: طالب يقرّ بقتل امرأة في غرفة مبطنة بالبلاستيك

According to BBC News, Benjamin William Day has admitted murdering 24-year-old Maria Saceanu after prosecutors said he lured her to a plastic-lined “kill room” inside an Airbnb. Day, a forensic science student at the University of Worcester, had been described as obsessed with the US television drama Dexter.

Day, 20, changed his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court. Prosecutors said the killing had been carefully planned, with a room prepared using plastic sheeting and items intended to help murder Ms Saceanu and dispose of evidence.

The defendant, of Yeadon Close in Redditch, Worcestershire, was 19 when the murder took place. He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on 4 December.

Day had been expected to argue that he acted in self-defence and that the room had been set up to film a Dexter tribute for TikTok. Following an hour-long delay to proceedings, he returned to the dock and entered a guilty plea. BBC News reported that he appeared to smirk as he did so.