Graham Snell murder trial: Part of knife found in man's body parts

The court previously heard Graham Snell's cause of death was unascertained

Part of a "machete-type knife" was found embedded in the dismembered remains of a murdered pensioner, a court has heard.

Graham Snell's body parts were found dumped in various locations - including a badger sett - around Chesterfield.

Jurors at Derby Crown Court heard the weapon was found "with a notch missing from the blade" after accused Daniel Walsh, 30, was arrested last July.

Mr Walsh, of Marsden Street, denies the 71-year-old's murder.

Prosecutor Peter Joyce QC told the court Mr Walsh had bought an incinerator on 21 June 2019 - two days after Mr Snell was last seen alive.

After the defendant's arrest on 1 July, the court heard, officers found the knife, which "had been burnt in the incinerator".

Blood was found on plywood under the incinerator, the jury was told.

Mr Joyce said part of the knife "was discovered in a body part of Mr Snell".

Jurors were previously told Mr Walsh bought rubble sacks and transported the victim's remains to a badger sett where they were left for the animals to eat.

Mr Joyce said two human legs were recovered from one hole, and a human torso from another.

"Blood-stained bedding and black bags" were also found, he said, describing a tear in the black bag which suggested "it had been prodded down with something".

The court heard Mr Walsh marked the location of Mr Snell's head and arms - which were eventually discovered in February this year - on a map for officers.

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Mr Walsh travelled to Birmingham on 23 June, the court heard, where he caught a train to Birmingham Airport, and phoned the passport office in an attempt to obtain an emergency passport.

In the days following Mr Snell's death, jurors heard, Mr Walsh also visited a Cash Generator to sell electrical items, including two television sets, belonging to Mr Snell.

The prosecution, which alleges Mr Walsh killed the pensioner to steal his money, said he spent hundreds of pounds at a casino in Sheffield after transferring money from Mr Snell's account into his own.

The trial continues.