Cannibal killer horror letter to victim's partner from his prison cell
A cannibal killer, serving a life sentence for the manslaughter of a mother-of-four from Darlington, continues to have his appeals for freedom rejected.
David Harker, who refuses to reveal to authorities where he disposed of Julie Paterson's body, has had his release turned down multiple times under Helen's Law, which was brought in during 2021.
The legislation was created to make parole harder for murderers who won't reveal where their victim's remains are located.
Helen's Law was introduced following Marie McCourt's relentless campaigning after her daughter Helen's death, resulting in amendments to the Parole Board's guidelines for judges handling manslaughter and murder cases where the victim's body remains missing.
Harker is serving a minimum sentence of 14 years after admitting manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility when 32 year old Julie vanished from her Darlington home in 1998, according to The Mirror, reports the Express.
The killer bragged about eating Julie's body with cheese and pasta.
Whilst her torso was discovered in a bag found in a Darlington garden, Harker has declined to reveal what he did with the remaining body parts for more than two decades.
Julie was a vulnerable individual struggling with depression when she first encountered Harker, just five weeks before her death.
Harker enticed Julie back to his flat in the town's Harewood Grove after the pair had been drinking in a local park.
He subsequently confessed he attacked her because he was "bored," strangling Julie to death. Harker has remained behind bars for an additional 12 years beyond his initial 14-year minimum sentence due to regular Parole Board reviews denying his release.
Sporting tattoos of the words "sub-human" and "disorder" on his head, Harker chillingly told psychiatrists: "People like me don't come from those films, them films come from people like me."
A psychiatrist's report presented in court labelled Harker as "evil" and beyond the help of hospital treatment.
The murderer has consistently refused to disclose the whereabouts of Julie Paterson's head, legs, and arms. Instead, he penned a cruel letter to Miss Paterson's former partner and father of her two children, Freddie Newman, from his cell.
In this letter, Harker mocked Freddie, who had desperately implored him to reveal the location of the rest of Miss Paterson's remains.
Harker wrote: "It's always good to know that people are thinking of me, especially those who suffer because of my actions.
"You are correct when you speak of decency, I have none. I have no inhibitions, remorse or regret, and therefore care not one bit if your wife has a full body burial or not.
"I hope you are happy in the knowledge that you don't suffer alone in your loss. Your wife was not the first or the last person I killed."
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