A 24-year-old woman killed by a man obsessed with the television drama Dexter was “one in a million” and dreamed of becoming a mother, her grieving cousin has said.
Maria Saceanu was lured to an Airbnb that had been prepared as a “kill room” by forensic science student Benjamin Day. He stabbed her before attempting to dismember her body.
Day, 20, had arranged the room as a “tribute” to the US crime drama, covering the bedroom floor, walls and bed with plastic sheeting.
Miss Saceanu’s cousin said the last contact she had from Maria was at about 8pm on the night of the killing. She did not answer the call because she was feeling unwell as a result of her pregnancy.
Maria then “disappeared” at around 10pm and was never heard from again.
Her cousin, who has chosen not to be named, said: “I truly regret that I didn’t answer her last call. I wish she was here to meet my baby. I wish I could turn back time to save her life.”
Maria Saceanu, 24, was remembered by her cousin as someone who would “put herself second for the good of others”
She had hoped to become a mother and build a family of her own before her life was cut short
![A Home Office pathologist said Miss Saceanu died as a result of wounds to her neck. She also had 'a number of wounds to her hands [which were] consistent with efforts to protect herself'.](https://i.dailymail.com/1s/2026/10/12/10/111760503-16196593-A_Home_Office_pathologist_said_Miss_Saceanu_died_as_a_result_of_-a-31_1791795997094.jpg)
A Home Office pathologist said Miss Saceanu died from wounds to her neck. She also suffered “a number of wounds to her hands”, which were “consistent with efforts to protect herself”.
Benjamin Day, 20, will be sentenced for murder in December after changing his plea to guilty
Day, the son of a company director, admitted murdering Ms Saceanu on the second day of his trial this week.
The court heard that he was fixated on Dexter, the series about forensic technician Dexter Morgan, who secretly lives as a vigilante serial killer.
He contacted Miss Saceanu, who worked as an escort, through a website using a burner phone shortly after 9.30pm on December 20 last year.
She arrived at the three-bedroom Airbnb in Tividale, West Midlands, around 50 minutes later. The property cost £40 a night.
Prosecutors said there was no evidence the pair had sexual contact and that Maria was probably killed very soon after arriving at the property.
As part of his plan, Day placed Miss Saceanu’s belongings in a black bin bag, apparently ready to dispose of them. He was arrested after cutting his hand while trying to dismember her body.
Miss Saceanu’s cousin said she did not want to discuss Maria’s work, but stressed that nobody deserved the fate she suffered.
“Whatever she did for a living, that was her problem. What matters is that a scumbag took her life. Does anyone ask him why he had such thoughts?” she said.
She described Miss Saceanu, whom she regarded as a sister, as someone who “used to put herself second for the good of others”.
“She loved us all, and we all loved her too,” the cousin said.
‘I personally didn’t want to accept her death, I didn’t go to her funeral and I don’t think I have the power to go visit her grave, I still refuse to believe this is all true.’
Miss Saceanu was born in Alexandria in Teleorman, one of the poorest counties of Romania. She lived in London before moving to Tividale.
Her cousin told how Miss Saceanu, who was an only child, lost her mother in 2023. She said they were extremely close and she ‘never fully recovered’ but she dreamed of becoming a mother herself.
‘She wanted to live, to have a family, to become a mother, she was a one in a million girl,’ she said.
‘When I say this, I say it with all my heart, she used to put herself second for the good of others.’
Speaking about her killer she said: ‘All I want is for that despicable person to live 102 years and for him to suffer every year of his life, may he be haunted by regret, may he end up begging her for forgiveness, driven mad by regret.’
She said she did not think he would survive long in prison however.
Maria Saceanu pictured as a child with her mother, who died in 2023 leaving her heartbroken
Miss Saceanu in a picture provided by West Midlands Police following he murder
He was arrested in a hospital bed after police discovered Miss Saceanu’s body at the Airbnb
Day, pictured with his injured hand, was even wearing a dark green top the same as worn by Dexter in the controversial US drama
Day was arrested after he injured his hand trying to cut up her body.
The court heard he was forced to abandon the ‘gruesome task’ due to the injury and walked some distance from the property, disposing of his burner phone and flagging down a passing police car, telling officers he had been injured by a dog.
At 1.05am Day sent a text to the landlord of the Airbnb, asking if he could extend his stay to a week but a guest staying in another room noticed a trail of blood and told the landlord, who called the police.
Officers found Miss Saceanu in the bedroom lying next to the bed. She had been stabbed 78 times.
Day, who was 19 at the time and still living with his parents, tried to claim self-defence, asserting that he set up the room to film a ‘tribute’ to Dexter which he could post on TikTok.
He callously said Miss Saceanu attacked him when she saw the room and he was injured trying to disarm her and stabbed her one or two times while trying to defend himself.
A Home Office pathologist said Miss Saceanu probably died as a result of wounds to her neck. She also had ‘a number of wounds to her hands [which were] consistent with efforts to protect herself’.
Day was arrested on suspicion of murder at 3.42am as he lay on a bed in hospital.
He will be sentenced in December.
Jonathan Roe from the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘Benjamin William Day’s guilty verdict brings to an end a trial in which he tried to blame Maria Saceanu for her own death by alleging she attacked him first.
‘The evidence presented by the prosecution exposed those claims for the lies they were, and he has rightly been forced to accept responsibility for her murder.
‘Forensic evidence and pathology were central to this case, and the entire prosecution team was determined to secure justice for Maria.
‘By presenting that evidence clearly, the defendant was left with no choice but to accept responsibility for his actions. Maria’s family have been spared the trauma of a prolonged trial process as a result of today’s guilty verdict.
He added: ‘My thoughts remain with all those who loved and knew Maria. Her life was cut short to feed Day’s warped fantasy, and nothing can undo that loss. The CPS remain determined to secure justice for her and for everyone who loved her.’