July 8, 2015 9.45 am This story is over 104 months old

Son bludgeoned elderly parents to death and dumped bodies in Lincoln garden, court told

Parents killed: Timothy Crook, 51, is on trial for brutally murdering his elderly parents before cramming their bodies into a Nissan Micra and dumping them in his garden in Lincoln.
Timothy Crook was found guilty of brutally killing his parents and burying them in Lincoln. Photo: Wiltshire Police

Ex-Ministry of Defence worker Timothy Crook, 51, is on trial charged with brutally murdering his elderly parents before cramming their bodies into a Nissan Micra and dumping them in his garden in Lincoln.

Crook is denying charges of killing his father Robert, 83, and mother Elsie, 76, at their home in Swindon, Wiltshire in July 2007.

Their bodies were found 150 miles from their home under wheelie bins in the garden of a property owned by Crook in Lincoln on July 11, after friends reported them missing.

Robert and Elsie Crook, who were murdered in their home. Photo: Wiltshire Police

Robert and Elsie Crook, who were murdered in their home. Photo: Wiltshire Police

He is alleged to have murdered them in the bedroom of their home by strangling, kicking and punching them, as well as beating them with a weapon, thought to be a hammer.

The Nissan Micra had been dumped near to Newark Train Station, where Crook was seen on CCTV catching a train to London and then back to Swindon, where it is claimed he attempted to clean up the evidence of the murders.

The court heard how the ‘domineering’ son had intimidated his parents, who he lived with in Swindon, before allegedly murdering them.

Crook was arrested but was found to be unfit to stand trial after being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, which has since improved, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Andrew Langdon QC, prosecuting, told the jury the couple had suffered repeated blows to their heads and bodies and that each of them was strangled with what’s thought to be a belt.

Nigel Pascoe QC, representing Crook, said: “The case for the defendant is: ‘I did not kill either of my parents.’”

The trial is ongoing, and is expected to last for three weeks.