A 55-year-old man has admitted the murder of a pensioner who was stabbed after going to the aid of his neighbour – a convicted paedophile – during a robbery.
Ian McLoughlin, 55, appeared at the Old Bailey today and admitted killing Graham Buck in Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, in July.
Mr Buck, 66, suffered fatal stab wounds when he responded to cries from the home of 86-year-old Francis Cory-Wright in the village near Berkhamsted.
McLouglin had met Mr Cory-Wright while in prison, and turned up at his house claiming to need help setting up a charity supporting elderly ex-offenders.
But McLoughlin, already a convicted killer, suddenly grabbed him and demanded to know where he kept his “gold and silver”.
He tied Mr Cory-Wright, who was jailed for 30 months in 2011 for indecently assaulting a 10-year old boy in the 1970s, to his bed, stuffed silver family heirlooms into a pillowcase and demanded his bank cards and pin numbers.
Father-of-three Mr Buck, who lived two doors away from Mr Cory-Wright, went to help him after hearing shouting in his front garden.
In police interview, McLoughlin told officers: ” I’m not sorry for what I did to the nonce, but I’m sorry for what I did to the pensioner.”
He said he was confronted by Mr Buck as he tried to flee Mr Cory-Wright’s house, and stabbed him in the neck.
Witnesses described seeing Mr Buck with his throat slashed “wide open”, prosecutor Ann Evans said. He died on his front lawn, with his pet dog sitting beside him.
McLoughlin, who has also admitted robbery, is due to be sentenced this afternoon.
The court heard that Mr Buck’s wife, Karen, said her life had been “turned upside down” by her husband’s death.
Shortly before his murder he had returned from a long weekend in Poland, where he met his baby granddaughter for the first time.
McLoughlin had killed twice before – the first time in 1984 when he hit Len Delgatty, 49, over the head with a hammer several times after a row, and left his body in a cupboard.
He was jailed for 10 years for manslaughter at the Old Bailey, reduced to eight years on appeal.
After his release, he went to live in Brighton, where barman Peter Halls, 55, offered him work.
McLoughlin said he assumed Mr Halls was gay, and thought that he may be expected to sleep with him.
Ms Evans said: “The defendant claimed that Mr Halls confessed to liking young boys and… that he took holidays in Morocco for under-age sex.”
McLoughlin stabbed Mr Halls several times, and in 1992 was jailed for 25 years for murder, serving a total of 21 years behind bars.
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Man admits murder of pensioner
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