A former bookkeeper has been found guilty of murdering a barmaid, who he raped and strangled after finding her in a drunken state outside a nightclub in Northampton.
Edward Tenniswood claimed he had consensual sex with India Chipchase and that her death in his Northampton home in the early hours of 30 January was a result of his “over-eagerness” in bed.
He had promised to “get her home safe” after finding her outside the club, but instead he raped and strangled her, leaving her with more than 30 injuries.
After killing the woman, 52-year-old Tenniswood told the jury he “cuddled up” to her lifeless body and then sat and drank in a hotel bar for 22 hours until the police came to arrest him.
When police smashed down the door of his house, having traced Ms Chipchase’s mobile to the address, they found her fully-clothed body lying on a mattress in a dimly-lit upstairs bedroom.
A sheet was drawn up to her chin and her long black hair had been arranged by Tenniswood in what police described as a “halo”, near a book left open on a page showing romantic images of scantily-clad women.
She had 33 separate injuries on her body including evidence of blunt force trauma to her head and bruising to both hips.
During his testimony, he claimed Ms Chipchase had a drunken fall and banged her head, but moments later “passionately” kissed Tenniswood and later had “loving” sex with him.
He spoke of how he and his victim “just clicked” – snapping his fingers for effect in the witness box.
He drew a gasp from relatives in the public gallery when referring with familiarity to Ms Chipchase – a woman he had known only a few drunken hours at most – as “sweet”, calling her behaviour “very India”.
At his home, he raped his victim with her clothes on and then “squeezed the life” out of her, the prosecution said.
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