Valerie Graves (25 December 1958 – 29/30 December 2013) was an artist and grandmother who was murdered in December 2013 in

Bosham Bosham is a coastal village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England, centred about west of Chichester with its clustered developed part west of this. Its land forms a broad peninsula projecting into natural Chiche ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, England.

Life

Graves had two adult children and had owned a gallery and craft studio in

Roxburghshire Roxburghshire or the County of Roxburgh ( gd, Siorrachd Rosbroig) is a historic county and registration county in the Southern Uplands of Scotland. It borders Dumfriesshire to the west, Selkirkshire and Midlothian to the north-west, and Berw ...

, having lived in Scotland for ten years. She had moved to

Bracklesham Bay Bracklesham Bay is a biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in West Sussex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. It is a coastal bay on the west side of the Manhood Peninsula in West Sussex, England. The bay lo ...

not long before the murder to look after her then 87-year-old mother Eileen.

Christmas 2013

Eileen, Valerie, her sister Janet, and Janet's partner, Nigel, were housesitting in Smugglers Lane, Bosham, for friends who were out of the country at the time. Several members of her family and friends visited the house over this time and enjoyed both the Christmas celebrations and Valerie’s birthday, which was on Christmas Day.

Murder

On the morning of 30 December, Janet found Graves' body in her bedroom, having suffered severe head and facial injuries. A patio door, leading directly from the bedroom outside to the back of the premises, was found to be unlocked.

Investigation

A few days after the murder, a hammer was found by police at the entrance to the driveway of Harts' Farm on Hoe Lane, some 600m from the murder scene. The hammer was confirmed to be the murder weapon. A local man was arrested on 14 January 2014 and questioned about the murder, but was bailed and released without further action. In November 2014, a partial DNA profile for the suspect was obtained. In January 2015, Sussex Police began a voluntary mass DNA screening programme in Bosham, asking men aged 17 and over to give samples. At the time, officers had interviewed 9,500 people in relation to the case, a reward of £20,000 had been offered and the murder had been featured on ''

Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was or ...

''. In July 2019 Cristian Sabău was arrested in his home in

Dej Dej (; hu, Dés; german: Desch, Burglos; yi, דעעש ''Desh'') is a municipality in Transylvania, Romania, north of Cluj-Napoca, in Cluj County. It lies where the river Someșul Mic meets the river Someșul Mare. The city administers four vill ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

on a European Arrest Warrant. Sussex Police sought his extradition. He appeared in court in

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

. He was extradited to the UK and was scheduled to appear before

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

Magistrates' court A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

on 20 July 2019. He was remanded in custody with a further court appearance scheduled for 30 September.

Conviction

In November 2019 Sabău was convicted of her murder after pleading guilty. The prosecutor said that Sabău had entered the house with the intent to burgle it, expecting it to be empty. He had been told that a safe in the house contained a large amount of cash and ingots. He had previously done odd jobs for the owners. When he encountered Valerie Graves he attacked her with a hammer, leaving injuries that the prosecution compared to those sustained in traffic accidents. Judge Christine Laing jailed him for life with a minimum term of 23 years and 272 days.

Television

The murder was the subject of the Sky documentary series, ''Killer in My Village'' (Season 4, Episode 8).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Valerie 2013 in England 2013 murders in the United Kingdom Deaths by beating in the United Kingdom Deaths by person in England December 2013 crimes in Europe December 2013 events in the United Kingdom Female murder victims Murder in West Sussex Violence against women in England