This one is a little wild, y’all. So, Anthony Morley was a rather good looking professional sous chef and model who had actually landed the title of Mr Gay UK in 1993. By 2008 the 36 year old Leeds man was an alcoholic with a history of domestic assault; he’d already been in trouble with the law for having attacked a partner with a knife.
Anthony had been involved in an on again off again relationship with a proudly gay magazine ad salesman by the name of Damian Oldfield. The two had met on a late night dating television show called “God’s Gift” back in 1996, and some reports claim that the relationship had been tumultuous. The men had been separated for a hot minute, but out of the blue on April 23rd of 2008 Anthony began to text his ex.
Anthony had expressed his desire to reconcile, and the pair made plans to meet up at his house that evening for a nice fish dinner and to watch the movie “Brokeback Mountain”. Anthony later claimed that he’d told Damian that he’d wanted to take things slow; he fell asleep, and later said that he awoke to find himself in the middle of a non consensual sexual act. Anthony said that he felt violated and betrayed; at this point he slashed his boyfriend’s throat and stabbed him more than 30 times.
When Damian was dead, the chef did what chefs do: he cooked! Damian’s thigh and a part of his chest (including the right nipple) were chopped into bits with a cleaver. They were seasoned real good with fresh herbs and seeds, and then fried up in some olive oil. The killer later stated: “I can only say at some point Damian’s body had just become something I would deal with at work, a piece of meat. That’s the only thing I can think of. That was my daily task, preparing meat.”.
Hours later an intoxicated and bloody Anthony entered a local restaurant where he asked workers to call the police, he wanted to confess that he’d killed a man who had tried to rape him. Damian’s nude remains were discovered face up on Anthony’s bedroom floor; there were still 6 pieces of human flesh on a cutting board in the kitchen, and another piece which had been chewed on was discovered in the trash.
At trial Anthony stated that, while he absolutely had killed Damian, it had not been murder. He claimed to have been sexually confused; while he’d been in a relationship with his male victim, had appeared on television as a gay man, and even won the title of Mr Gay UK, Anthony hadn’t been real sure if he was gay, straight, or bi. He also shared that he had been groomed and sexually assaulted by an older man when he was young, and that this was likely what had set him off that night.
The prosecution countered with the argument that the killer had been a bit obsessed with cannibalism, and the judge stated that he believed this to be a planned attack on a good and innocent man. Damian had been an openly gay man comfortable with his own sexuality; he’d come from a loving, respectable family, and at 34 he’d had his whole life ahead of him. The jury agreed; they deliberated for less than 3 hours before finding Anthony guilty. In October 17th of 2008 this killer was sentenced to 30 years, and he remains in custody today.
