Murdered Northampton man stabbed and mutilated by four homeless people
The defendants, of no fixed address, are all accused of the murder of David Miller - which happened in June last year - and bloodied weapons recovered at the flat included a rolling pin, a corkscrew, knives, a chisel and an angle grinder.
Ian Cuthbertson, 49, Michael Hallett, 37, Joseph Catlin, 30, and Zena Kane, 35, all appeared at Northampton Crown Court today for the start of the trial.
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Hide AdPeter Joyce QC, prosecuting, said: "Just after 5am on June 14 uniformed officers forced their way into a flat on Patterdale Walk.
"In the corner of the only bedroom, they found the partially dismembered body of David Miller.
"It was obvious to police officers that he had suffered a brutal and sustained assault, but he died from a stab wound."
He added: "In the days that followed, these four made crude attempts to butcher the corpse and scatter the remains."
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Hide AdMr Miller's body was found at his flat on Patterdale Walk, Boothville, covered in porridge oats, clothes, bedding, pillows, and his mother's ashes which had been kept in an urn in his home.
The jury was told how Mr Miller had had his nose cut off, his head partially scalped, and his genitals cut off.