Lucie Lambourne described the night she discovered her mother’s body as “probably the worst night of my life.” She had arrived at her mother Rita Lambourne’s Bexhill home, only to find her dead.
The 58-year-old woman had been brutally murdered by her cousin, Donald Excell, who struck her multiple times with an axe on 12 February, a court has found.
Lucie Lambourne recalled: “What we were met with was pure carnage. It will be a day that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Jurors at Hove Crown Court heard that Excell had let himself into the house and attacked Ms Lambourne “with chilling brutality and ruthless efficiency” following a family dispute between the pair.
Excell has now been convicted of the murder, bringing an end to the trial that exposed the shocking violence within the family.
