Dog breeder murder suspect killed himself - inquest

A man accused of murdering a Crufts dog breeder killed himself a day before he was due to appear in court, an inquest has found.

Alex Verdu Munoz, 26, had been charged with the murder of 68-year-old Valerie Freer at her home in Whittington, near Lichfield, Staffordshire, in February 2022.

He was due to appear at crown court via a virtual video call from HMP Manchester to face the allegation on 16 May, in addition to charges of aggravated burglary, burglary, possession of a bladed article and dangerous driving.

A jury at Manchester Coroner's Court recorded a verdict of suicide at a hearing on Wednesday.

The inquest heard Munoz was on suicide watch and moved to another prison wing after he received verbal abuse from inmates.

Munoz had travelled to the UK from Argentina on a number of occasions, but had no contacts in the country.

Jurors were told it was not known whether he had intended to enter guilty or not guilty pleas at the hearing.

He was arrested and charged on 11 March 2022 and remanded to HMP Dovegate near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, before he was transferred to Manchester six days later.

The court heard he arrived on crutches with a broken leg after he was involved in a traffic collision during his arrest.

Munoz, previously of no fixed address, told prison staff he sustained the injury as he was "making his escape".

The hearing, which began on Monday, was told he was not deemed to be at a high risk of suicide but was subject to extra observations due to the nature of his offence, and because it was his first time in prison.

Assistant Coroner for Manchester Andrew Bridgman was told a post-mortem examination concluded the medical cause of death was hanging.

Found in his cell was a handwritten note to his family in which he asked for forgiveness for "all the bad I have done".

The jury was told to consider its conclusions "without any prejudice in respect of Alex's alleged crimes", and found the verbal abuse he received in prison was a possible contribution to his death.

The inquest heard HMP Manchester, also known as Strangeways, accepted Munoz should have been allocated a key worker but there were not enough staff.

The coroner apologised for the length of time it had taken for the inquest to come to a full hearing and offered his condolences to the family, saying the death must have been a "tremendous shock".

Freer was found with neck injuries and her hands bound with cable ties on the drive of her home on the morning of 24 February.

An inquest held in Staffordshire in December 2022 was told she was stabbed 16 times, and a coroner ruled she was unlawfully killed.

In 2014, one of the victim's dogs, a Samoyed called Dan the Man, was named runner-up in the Best in Show category at Crufts.

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