The children of bedsit killer David Fuller are ‘in total shock’ and insist they ‘didn’t know’ the man who killed two women and raped more than 100 corpses, his ex-wife has said.
This week, Fuller finally admitted the murder of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in 1987 after the crime mystified police for three decades.
The killings were known as the ‘Bedsit Murders’, and were solved after a DNA breakthrough cracked one of Britain’s longest unsolved murder cases.
But detectives quickly discovered the unassuming 67 year-old was hiding something and that he had been abusing bodies.
Now, his family are starting to speak out after learning of his heinous crimes, with his ex-wife telling The Sun that his children are in ‘total shock’.
Gill Palmer, 65, who was reportedly visibly shaken when speaking to the newspaper, said: ‘It’s too horrific. It’s too horrible.
“It is not right at all. This is just wrong. My kids won’t even talk about it. “They’re not in the best frame of mind,” she stated.
David Fuller’s children, who were raped over 100 bodies and killed two women by bedit murderer David Fuller, have stated that they are in shock and that they didn’t know him.
Gill Palmer (pictured, 65), Fuller’s exwife, stated that she was shocked to learn of the true nature of her father from the children she had shared with him.
“What was revealed has been shocking. You’re referring to their father. The man was unknown to them. He didn’t even know me.
Palmer and Fuller were married in Portsmouth, in 1972. The couple had a son & a girl. Fuller divorced after the marriage. Gill, however, moved to North Carolina.
Gemma Keena is 39 years old. She was Gill’s child from a previous relationship. Gemma Keena spoke out about her experiences with Gill and the impact his crimes have had on her mother, siblings, and herself.
“They’re in shock. The details are too much for them to bear.” She said, “I would say that they are completely numb.”
“He isn’t my dad, I came along later. While it’s an awful shock for my mother, my siblings and brother, it is really devastating. They don’t know what to do.
“He attended my sister’s wedding, and I still remember him from there. But he went right back down after that. He didn’t stay.”
Explaining the effect of Fuller’s crimes being revealed on the rest of the family, she continued: ‘Really it wasn’t a close relationship between him and this part of the family for a lot of years. They are still trying to process all the information they have just received.
“My sister, brother and mom are struggling to deal with what he did. It is so terrible that you are unable to speak.
They were informed that he was accused of killing the two young girls. That alone made it difficult to face.
‘But they knew absolutely nothing about those other offences and I think someone could surely have prepared them. It was only when they went down to a pre trial hearing that they learnt about what he’d done in the hospitals.
“What an amazing way to find out something like this. They have been in shock ever since. They also didn’t know the trial was coming to an end and all this would suddenly hit the media.- we were on the school run when the news came out.
“Since that time, all three of them have kept themselves shut down. They don’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone until they’ve had chance to process it.
“Sharon was so distraught and broke down. You are bound to look back over the years and wonder if there were ever any signs he was capable of such things.’
Ms Palmer’s comments come after Mala Fuller, 50, his third wife, exclusively told MailOnline that she ended their marriage after learning his true nature.
After three decades of mystery surrounding the crime, Fuller admitted to the killings of Wendy Knell and Caroline Pierce in Tunbridge Wells (Kent) in 1987.
She said, “I am not with him.” “I could not continue with that relationship. It’s too difficult to think of what’s going on. I can’t bear it. It is hard to believe how upset I feel.
Mala is originally from Trinidad and moved four months ago out of her home in Heathfield East Sussex, where she had lived for 20 years with Fuller.
Sobbing, she said: “I couldn’t stay in that home knowing how he behaved and what was going on inside.” It was my desire to be independent and live my own life.
Nearby residents revealed Mala’s confession to them that she had broken up with Fuller just weeks before his December arrest. One neighbor said, “She told them she was not going to stay with him. But how can anyone be rational?”
Mala’s sister helped her get through the difficult times. While she was forced to live in the house, her sister helped her find alternative accommodation. She left as soon as she could and it’s not my fault. A monster like this can’t be married.
Yesterday, Kent Police said they will never know how many women and girls Fuller violated – but admit it could be hundreds more, and released contact centre details in anticipation of an avalanche of calls from family members.
Ministers and relatives of those Fuller abused have demanded to know how the electrician was allowed to continue his sickening offences over decades of working for the NHS.
But officers say they may reach a stage when they cannot identify all of his victims – one of whom was Azra Kemal, 24, who was abused by Fuller at Tunbridge Wells Hospital after she died following a fall from a bridge in July 2020.
Azra Kemal (24), was taken to Tunbridge Wells Hospital for abuse after her death in July 2020 from an accidental fall.
Nevres Kemal, her mother, has expressed concern over the number of bodies Fuller might have abused. She told Sky News that Fuller had been to the autopsy and morgue thousands of times. Not hundreds or thousands.
Fuller was found with hidden hard drives and CDs as well as floppy disks containing 14,000,000 images of sexual offences. These included footage from Fuller sexually assaulting bodies in two morgues.
The back of a chest with drawers contained hard drives and diaries. Detectives found that he also had handwritten information about the victims of his crimes. His 100-year-old victim was his oldest, while his nine year old victim was his youngest.
According to Ms Kemal, she felt compelled by an awful rage after she was informed by police officers that her daughter had been abused.
‘The rage… .’ she said. ‘My only thought was, “He is not going to get away this.” I’d just been told he’d raped her in hospital when she was dead. This was beyond comprehension. I felt I had to take things into my own hands — find him, punish him. I’m her mother.
Azra Kemal’s mother Nevres Kemal has raised fears over how many bodies Fuller may have abused, telling Sky News in an emotional interview: ‘He had entered the morgue and autopsy area thousands of times, not hundreds, thousands.
‘If I’d found him, I’m 99.99 per cent sure I’d have put that knife straight through his heart because he’d put a knife through mine. The thought of him violating her — of touching her hair, touching her skin…’
Local Conservative MP Greg Clark, for Tunbridge Wells, said a public inquiry into how Fuller carried out hundreds of sex attacks was required, adding that the investigation launched by the local NHS trust was It is not enough.
Police have set up a contact centre number of 0800 051527 as the horrifying scale of Fuller’s depraved crimes was revealed after he dramatically changed his pleas this week to confess to murdering two young women.
MailOnline was informed by the force that it had spoken with the family members of all victims and could not assist further identification. However, support services can be accessed through this number.
Kent Police detectives have so far identified 81 victims of the crime in the mortuary. However, the investigation continues and any person with information should call the number or complete the online form.
Fuller admitted killing Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in 1987 in what became known as the ‘Bedsit Murders’ – one of Britain’s longest unsolved murder cases.
He was still working for the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust when revolutionary DNA profiling techniques led police investigating the historic murders to his home in Heathfield, East Sussex, on December 3 last year.
Investigators discovered a cache of photos hidden in a box, along with thousands upon thousands of videos and images digitally. This revealed one of Britain’s most serious healthcare frauds.
Fuller was known to have spent more than 12 years abusing bodies in Kent’s and Sussex mortuaries and Tunbridge Wells hospitals.
He kept meticulously written diaries detailing his abuse and thousands of images from himself having sex on corpses.
Although police believe he engaged in sexual activity at least with 100 dead women, only 81 of them have been identified by the police, there might have been more.
After David Fuller defiled the body of her daughter, a mother feels grief and revulsion.
David Fuller had defiled her daughter’s body and she asked that it not happen again.
After he fell from a bridge, the warped electrician in hospital sneaked into Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Kent to abuse Azra Kemal (24), three times.
It was tragic that the second attack occurred just hours after Nevres Kemal (her grief-stricken mother) had visited her daughter. She stroked her hair and said goodbye.
She stated that she had spent two hours with her in the mortuary. I felt some relief. My daughter was raped the night before that. While I am stroking my girl’s hair and sleeping on it, a man… crawled all across her skin. Then, I kissed and cuddled my daughter and said my goodbyes.
Sickening – Azra Kemal, one of Fuller’s victims was Azra Kemal
Miss Kemal was a Sky News researcher and one of Fuller’s latest victims. Fuller carried out the sickening attack in July of last year.
Her mother – a London social worker – told Sky News: ‘Men and women up and down the country will be appalled by what they are reading.
‘And I remind them that if this was your loved one you would roar with rage – and I am silently roaring. Respect for the dead is important and must be maintained.
Kent Police officer DS Ivan Beasley said that Fuller’s offending spree was unprecedented. It is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
Following Fuller’s October 8th hearing where he pleaded guilty, over 150 family liaison officers informed families about the deaths of the women.
Libby Clark of the Crown Prosecution Service stated that ‘no British court had ever witnessed abuse against the deceased before’ and that he would continue to offend today if it weren’t for the painstaking investigation, prosecution, and investigations.
From 1989 to 2010, Fuller was employed at Kent and Sussex Hospital. He then moved to Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
As an electrician, Fuller had unsupervised access to every part of the hospital through a swipe-card. Police said that Fuller was usually done by 4 p.m., but mortuary staff typically finished at 11 a.m. Fuller worked from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
His bag with tools was always on him, and he made sure that his abuse couldn’t be captured by CCTV cameras. This only covered a small portion of the mortuary. According to Mr Beasley, there is evidence that he moved around the mortuary. However, no footage has been taken of him interfacing with the corpses. The evidence comes from Mr Beasley’s own footage.
Family members of victims demanded last night answers from NHS officials about Fuller’s access to their deceased loved ones.
Fuller abused Azra Kemal after she died in July from an injury sustained when she fell off a bridge. Sky News spoke to Nevres her mother and said that they have cameras and swipe cards for a reason. No one checked. This was easy. He actually abused women as porters brought in body parts.
Miles Scott, chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, apologized to Fuller’s families last night. He said that while the mortuary is now secure, he wanted to find ways to make it safer.
Fuller was unable to be brought to justice after he killed and raped Miss Knell in a matter of months. Then, decades-old DNA evidence connected him to the crimes when an extended family member was taken into custody and added to our database.
Fuller was surprised when officers arrived at his house after he had been arrested. He said, “Oh, blimey.”
Fuller had previously admitted responsibility for the deaths with ‘diminished responsibility’ at Maidstone Crown Court – but until this week he had denied murder. Miss Knell’s bloodstained body was found in her flat on June 23, 1987, after Fuller – a convicted burglar – had climbed in through the window, before beating and strangling her to death.
Miss Pierce was taken from her home outside on the same day, November 24, 2012.
The body of Miss Knell, which was naked except for a pair a tights, were found three weeks later in a water-filled ditch near Romney Marsh. Pam Knell, Miss Knell’s mother who lost her husband Bill in 2017, said that she was hopeful Fuller’s conviction would allow her and her family time to grieve.
“For 34 years we, as a family and police have focused on Wendy’s true story, hoping to discover who was responsible and how Wendy lived her final days alive,” she stated.
“Sadly, it’s worse than we thought.”
“Hopefully, we can now begin to grieve… even though the timing of our loss has meant that our father isn’t here to share it as he died four years ago. His heart was broken and he didn’t find out about it until he passed away.
Priti Patel, Home Secretary, expressed her deepest sympathies to those who were affected by Fuller’s crimes.
Police say they will never know how many women and girls David Fuller (pictured) violated – but admit it could be hundreds more
Greg Clark, Tunbridge Wells’ MP, said on BBC Radio 4’s Today yesterday that he found it shocking. This was two brutal murders by young women. But to find out that there are over 100 others and that many other bodies were desecrated in the same way, is truly shocking.
He said that he wrote to Ms Patel, Mr Javid, and requested an inquiry into Fuller’s crimes. Clark claimed that the NHS probe was “not enough” and said: “To be clear, it is without precedent. In Britain, there has never been an instance in which the extent and number of abuses of deceased bodies was revealed this way.
“And it raises so many important questions about the security mortuaries, not only in two local hospitals but in every other hospital across the country. One of these hospitals, frankly speaking, is very modern and state-of the-art with high security systems. It can also happen anywhere.
“And I think it’s necessary – along with obviously watching Fuller go into jail for what will hopefully be his rest in life – that you move forward to ask difficult questions regarding how this happened, and to establish that this can’t happen again.
“And that’s beyond the resources and beyond the ability of any single local hospital trust. It is urgent that a public inquiry be conducted. That’s why I and my neighboring MPs wrote to both the Health Secretary (and the Home Secretary) to request that he immediately establish such an investigation.
Fuller will be sentenced later.
Police are now asking hundreds of people: Have our relatives been abused? Calls from distraught families about David Fuller, morgue predator, flood the helpline
More than 200 horrified relatives called police yesterday demanding to know if a double murderer defiled their loved ones’ bodies in hospital mortuaries.
A police helpline was flooded by calls from devastated families after it emerged that morgue predator David Fuller had sexually violated at least 100 corpses while working at two hospitals in one of Britain’s biggest healthcare scandals.
Fuller confessed in dramatic fashion to killing two women in 1987, while Fuller was being tried on Thursday. Police also revealed that Fuller could have attacked the bodies of many women and girls who worked for the NHS over the years as an electrician.
A police helpline was flooded by calls from devastated families after it emerged that morgue predator David Fuller had sexually violated at least 100 corpses while working at two hospitals in one of Britain’s biggest healthcare scandals
Yesterday, Mala, Mala’s wife of 50 years, said for the first times that they had ended their marriage. She said: ‘I’m not with him. I couldn’t carry on in that relationship.
‘I’m too upset to even think about what was going on, I couldn’t live with it. You can’t imagine how distraught I am.’
The demand for an in-depth public inquiry grew amid concern by MPs, campaigners, and others that possible attacks might have taken place at other hospitals around the country.
CCTV is not used routinely in hospitals mortuaries, where post-mortem examinations are performed. This is because of guidelines regarding the protection of dignity.
Fuller could carry out crimes of unimaginable depravity against at least 100 victims. He was not caught until his arrest for the murders that he committed 33 years ago.
This week Fuller finally admitted the 1987 killings of Wendy Knell, 25, and Caroline Pierce, 20, in Tunbridge Wells, Kent – known as the ‘Bedsit Murders’ – after a DNA breakthrough cracked one of Britain’s longest unsolved murder cases.
Fuller was part of a cycling club in the 1980s with one of the group’s routes going directly past where Miss Pierce’s body was found.
Mala, Mala’s third wife, stated that she moved from the Heathfield home where she lived with him for twenty years after his December shock arrest.
She said: ‘I could not stay in that house knowing what he did and what went on in there.
‘I wanted to be alone and want to live my life alone.’ Yesterday the daughter of Fuller’s first wife, Gill Palmer, said she was ‘numb’ with shock at the ‘unbearable’ details.
Gemma Keena, 39 – Miss Palmer’s daughter from a later relationship – told of the devastating effect on her mother and half-brother and half-sister.
‘They are in such shock, the details are unbearable. I’d say they are numb,’ she said.
‘He isn’t my father, I came along later. It’s still an awful shock but it’s really dreadful for my brother, sister and my mum. The family is still trying to understand what happened and it’s so difficult. It’s so awful you don’t even want to say it.
‘It was only when they went down to a pre-trial hearing that they learnt about what he’d done in the hospitals.’
Fuller was brought to justice after he, a corpse defiler and a murderer, arrived at the station 30 years ago.
He kept an extensive record of all his sexual assaults and printed photos.
Detectives have established that he assaulted at least 100 deceased women after 2008 in the mortuaries of Kent and Sussex Hospital and Tunbridge Wells Hospital – 81 of whom have been identified from the records Fuller kept.
His oldest victim was 100 years old, and his youngest was only nine. Because the photos taken do not bear any identifying marks, police believe that some bodies won’t be identified.
Officers have pored over 150,000 hours of hospital CCTV footage and swipe card data to track Fuller’s movements from 2019 onwards, narrowing down the time he could have entered the post-mortem room to commit the crimes.
But detectives believe there could be hundreds more victims, as there were 20 to 25 women’s bodies stored in the mortuary at any one time.
Fuller was an electrician in the Tunbridge wells’ Kent and Sussex Hospital from 1989 to 2010. He then moved to Pembury’s Tunbridge Wells Hospital.
The victim, who had convictions back in the 1970s, was able to avoid criminal records checks while he was initially employed at the hospital. Disclosure was his responsibility.
Yesterday, however, it was revealed that Mitie (the company providing facilities staff to Tunbridge Wells Hospital) learned of his criminal history in 2015.
However, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust insists that it wasn’t informed.
Greg Clark, Tory MP and local Tory politician demanded yesterday a public inquiry. He claimed that because there is no CCTV in the area it was impossible to determine if other abuses occurred at NHS hospitals mortuaries.
A review of the trust in which Fuller was employed is underway, though MPs call for a larger national investigation. Mr Clark said: ‘The questions that are raised include local ones about how this was allowed to happen.
‘But there are also national ones as to whether national policy was good enough, was stringent enough, and whether it could have happened in other hospitals across the country.’
He said the lack of CCTV in post-mortem rooms was a concern, adding: ‘We do not know how many people Fuller assaulted and how many people there are like Fuller across the country. We need to work on the assumption that there may be others and we need to protect people from being preyed on.’
A spokesman for the Centre for Women’s Justice said: ‘A proper inquiry must now take place to explore how Fuller was able to continue perpetrating these appalling acts over such a long period of time.’
Responding to calls for an inquiry, a spokesman for Boris Johnson said: ‘We’re not ruling it out, but we need to let the investigations that are already under way take place.’
A Kent Police spokesman said: ‘Kent Police has set up a contact centre and major incident public portal for people who may feel they may have information about the ongoing investigation into David Fuller.’