A brave schoolgirl tried to defend herself using martial arts moves before being murdered and her body dismembered by a man convicted of sex offences, an inquest has heard.
Leah Croucher's body was found dismembered in an attic in Buzzacott Lane, Furzeston, Milton Keynes, almost four years after she first went missing on February 15, 2019.
The 19-year-old woman went missing on her way to work in Buzzacott Lane, Furststone, Milton Keynes, and was found several years later, just 10 minutes away, on October 10, 2022, after a maintenance worker arrived to investigate the source of a foul odour.
The police chief said Leah, a skilled martial artist, was believed to have attempted to defend herself after being sexually assaulted by Neil Maxwell, 49.
Police carried out an “unprecedented” investigation into Leah's disappearance across the Thames Valley region, searching 3,500 homes, carrying out 1,500 investigations, examining 1,200 documents and 1,600 messages and taking 500 statements.
Maxwell's name emerged after a member of the public came forward with information in May 2019, but police at the time concluded there was no link between him and the victim, Detective Superintendent Kevin Brown told the inquest.
Investigators finally found Leah on Monday 10 October 2022 after receiving a call from a man carrying out maintenance work at a four-bedroom semi-detached house in Roxbeare Drive, Furzston.
“He was trying to clear the smell from the property and went into the attic where he discovered what appeared to be human remains,” a senior police officer told the court.
Officers said the owner of the “unremarkable” home lived overseas and used it as a holiday home but had not returned since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.
Milton Keynes' chief coroner, Tom Osborne, told the inquest: “Whoever put the body in the attic intended to remove certain limbs. The limbs were placed in plastic bags.”
Leah's identity was confirmed through dental records, but the cause of death could not be determined.
The court heard that Maxwell had been present at the house where she was found and, as the caretaker, was the only person with a key, but hanged herself in another part of Milton Keynes in 2019 and her body was later discovered.
Detective Inspector Brown told the inquest he was “absolutely” convinced Maxwell killed Leah and would have pressured the Crown Prosecution Service to bring a murder or manslaughter charge if Maxwell had survived.
“He was a criminal who preferred younger women, and sometimes older women,” the officer said. “He would make them commit some kind of sexual assault. He was a repeat offender.”
“I think it's possible that this was an unlawful sexual assault against Leah and because she had a talent for martial arts I think she reacted and was basically trying to defend herself,” Detective Brown said, adding that “that may have made it worse.”
Leah's father is a taekwondo instructor and she has competed at an international level.
Maxwell was wanted by police in connection with a sexual assault that occurred in Newport Pagnell in November 2018. Thames Valley Police said three people had called police late on the morning of the day she went missing, saying they may have seen Leah near Furstington Lake.
Detective Inspector Neil Kentish, who led the search, said during the operation that his men had “never dealt with anything like this before” and that “it is extremely rare for someone to go missing without leaving a trace.”
The family suffered further tragedy when Leah's distraught brother, Hayden Croucher, committed suicide after confiding to a therapist that he was struggling to cope after Leah's disappearance.
The 24-year-old man was discovered in his Bletchley apartment on November 14, 2019, and was taken to hospital but died two days later.
