Killer Wrote 'Confession Letter' To Victim's Father

The killer of Kate Beagley wrote a letter to her father in which he confessed to killing her, according to reports.

Fitness instructor Karl Taylor, 27, from Covent Garden, central London, was jailed for a minimum of 30 years yesterday for the murder of the 32-year-old Centrica manager in May last year.

During the trial at the Old Bailey, Taylor had denied murdering Miss Beagley, claiming that she had committed suicide in front of him, using a knife he had dropped, after tearfully telling him of her problems.

However, it has been reported that Taylor wrote a letter to Kate's father, which said: "To be honest, my first impression of her was she is a kind but unhappy girl to some respect.

"Anyway, for the short time I met your daughter, I began to see she was an angel but in the dark. Even though Katie is not with us, she still shines brightly as a star in the night sky.

"I might have took your daughter's life but we all know, some of us more than others, that her heart still beats in the good we all do and her soul lives on with all the good memories of her.

"Without any doubt what I did was wrong!!! But ask yourself this? Whose life have I really taken?"

It is not known if Mr Beagley received the letter.

Miss Beagley, from Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, met Taylor a few days before the killing last May in the CC club in central London and they swapped phone numbers. However, when they went on their date to the Roebuck pub in Richmond Hill, witnesses reported that she appeared to be ignoring him.

Her naked body was found four days later, dumped in nettles in Oxhey Wood in Hertfordshire. She had 31 stab wounds to her face and neck. Taylor had driven her body there in her grey VW Golf car, which he later stole.

During the trial, the prosecution refuted Taylor's claims that Miss Beagley committed suicide, saying that he had taken a knife with him on the date and attacked her as they sat on a park bench at a beauty spot overlooking the River Thames in Richmond, southwest London, when she refused to hand over the keys to her car.

The court heard that Taylor then dumped her clothing and unwanted belongings on the M1, before returning to London where he later sold her mobile phone to a friend.

In court, Judge Forrester told Taylor that he was satisfied that Miss Beagley's murder was "done for gain". Describing Taylor as "arrogant, manipulative and highly dangerous", he said: "You went to meet this girl, equipped with a knife. She was doing no more than looking to you for friendship. You took advantage of the vulnerability of that girl for your own ends."

(KMcA/JM)