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Lake arms killer refuses to reveal whereabouts of victim's head

PUBLISHED February 2, 2012
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Douglas Binet has been jailed for 20 years for murdering his friend Anthony Whitefield and dismembering his body

A drug dealer who killed his friend and dismembered the body has been jailed for at least 20 years ? after refusing to tell police where he hid his victim's head.

Douglas Binet, 54, of Loughton, Essex, was sentenced on Thursday after being found guilty of murdering Anthony Whitefield, 47, between 6 February and 31 March 2011, at Chelmsford crown court, on Tuesday.

Whitefield's severed right arm was found by an angler in a lake off Roding Lane, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. When police searched the lake they found the left arm.

Officers used fingerprints and DNA to identify the body as Whitefield who had been reported missing by his daughter. When they searched the home of Binet, the last person to see him alive, they found Whitefield's legs and torso.

After the guilty verdict, the judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, gave Binet the chance to think about disclosing where he had disposed of Whitefield's head, which has never been found. Binet chose not to reveal this information.

On Thursday, he was ordered to serve at least 20 years of a life sentence, Essex police said.

During the trial, Binet told the court Whitefield's torso and legs were delivered to his back garden after he was threatened at gunpoint by a man. He claimed he did not phone the police because he feared reprisals. Speaking after the guilty verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Robinson said: "Sadly for Tony's family, his head has never been recovered, preventing them from having a proper funeral and fully understanding how Tony died.

"Mr Binet has refused to co-operate with locating the last part of Tony and detectives from the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate would be keen to hear from anyone who can assist us in bringing the last part of this case to a conclusion."

In a statement, Whitefield's family said: "Things will never be the same for us, but from now we can start to rebuild our lives."

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