Troon Avenue murder accused Andrew Innes admitted another child may have died in his house if police had not intervened when they did.
As well as the double murders of Bennylyn Burke and her daughter Jellica, Innes is accused of raping a second child.
The 52-year-old denies doing so but when asked what he planned to do with the youngster, told his trial on Thursday: “I don’t know what would have happened.
“If they (the police) had turned up 24 hours later, she may have been dead.”
BDSM gag
Innes took the stand in his own defence on the third day of the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
He admits killing Mrs Burke, 25, and two-year-old Jellica and burying their bodies in concrete under the kitchen floor of his Dundee home.
However, he has lodged a defence of diminished responsibility and denies their murder.
He also denies raping the other girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons and whose taped interview was played to the jury earlier this week.
She said she saw Innes kill Mrs Burke with a hammer and thought Jellica had died during a game of hide and seek.
She further outlined how Innes had allegedly abused her.
Innes is accused of binding her with handcuffs and gagging her with a sock and tape.
The app designer said: “I appreciate the pathos of her recorded interview was off the charts.
“But none of that happened.”
He denied that he had used a sock to place over her mouth.
“She must have seen that on a porn site.”
“There was a BDSM gag beside the sofa.
“So the fact that I would use a sock for that purpose is ridiculous.
“If I wanted to gag that child, I would have used a gag.”
Attempted contact with Jellica’s dad
Asked what caused him to carry out the “violent killing” of Mrs Burke, Innes said: “It was an anger I had never experienced before in my entire life.”
Innes said after killing her he carried her upstairs and intended to put her in a bath.
“I could only take her to the landing and I had to put her down.”
He said he then wandered about the house in a “zombie-like state”
Innes said he set up an anonymous email account named “one dad to another” to contact Jellica’s father – Mrs Burke’s estranged husband – Lexington Burke.
He said he wanted to return Jellica to her dad but did not know what to write.
Google searches
Thursday’s evidence also focused on searches made on Innes’ computer.
Innes told the trial he collected Mrs Burke from Bristol after meeting her online and drove her and Jellica back to Dundee in February 2021, shortly before killing them.
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC asked why he searched for “chloroform” and “natural sedatives” days before he met Mrs Burke.
He replied: “When you’re searching online, other subjects come up that peak your interest.
“You can go down a rabbit hole.”
He added: “These are terms I Googled a couple of years ago, they weren’t major incidents in my life.”
Innes also searched for “trap door” and “underfloor storage.”
After he killed Mrs Burke he Googled: “How many murders in Scotland per year.”
“I had just killed someone, so obviously that was on my mind,” he said.
‘Bondage cages’ and ‘sexual playmate’
Innes was asked about purchases and computer search terms after Mrs Burke’s death.
He said he was searching “bondage cages” because he was going to build a “playroom” in his house.
When asked about looking up “night vision goggles,” he said: “I have a Geiger counter.
“I have all kinds of stuff.”
Innes had also searched for sedative medication.
He said this was because he suffered from insomnia.
When asked why he bought Durex lubricant from Tesco on February 23, he said he had met a student from Abertay University.
“We were in discussion about me becoming her sexual playmate,” he said.
Asked why he bought a dog lead, bowl and collar from a pet shop that same day, he said he was thinking about buying a dog but did not because the rescue centres were closed.
The trial before Lord Beckett continues.
The Troon Avenue trial evidence so far:
- The joint minute of agreed facts including Innes’ admission he killed Mrs Burke and her daughter.
- Police said Innes confessed the killing and Mrs Burke’s husband spoke of his fears when she disappeared.
- The young alleged rape victim told how she saw Innes hit Mrs Burke with a hammer.
- The girl’s evidence that she thought Jellica had been killed during a game of hide and seek.
- DNA from victims found on condom and hammer.
- Innes told police he couldn’t look after “screaming” child.
- Innes described how and why he killed Mrs Burke and her daughter.
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