Asylum seeker on trial for brutal hotel worker murder

Deng Chol Majek, 19, faces trial for fatally stabbing Walsall hotel worker Rhiannon Skye Whyte 23 times at Bescot Stadium station last October. Deng Chol Majek, 19, has appeared in Wolverhampton Crown Court accused of murdering Walsall hotel worker Rhiannon Skye Whyte and possessing an offensive weapon.

Majek, from South Sudan, denies stabbing Ms Whyte 23 times with a screwdriver at Bescot Stadium station on 20 October 2024.

A jury of five men and seven women was sworn in on Monday before Mr Justice Soole, who instructed jurors to keep an open mind.

Prosecutors opened their case describing how Majek followed Ms Whyte from the Park Inn hotel, where she worked and he was resident, to the station.

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CCTV footage shows Majek tracking her movements, waiting until she was alone before approaching the platform.

Ms Whyte, 27, had finished her shift at 11pm and was speaking on the phone to a friend when she was attacked.

The Crown says Majek closed the gap between them in stages, from two minutes to 90 seconds and then 30 seconds, before stabbing her repeatedly.

Her friend heard screams and the call ended at 11.19pm, moments before Ms Whyte was discovered by a train guard and hotel employee.

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The defendant was seen leaving the scene carrying Ms Whyte’s mobile phone, which he later threw into a river, and stopping at a shop for a drink before returning to the hotel.

CCTV footage reportedly captured him dancing and laughing on returning to the hotel, prosecutors say he was “clearly excited about what he had done.”

The attack left Ms Whyte critically injured; she never regained consciousness and died in hospital three days later on 23 October.

The Crown highlighted that Majek had been observed earlier at the hotel staring at Ms Whyte and co-workers, changing into a distinctive jacket and sandals, and waiting near the reception area.