Updated: Man Who Dumped His Partner’s Body in Guildford Convicted of Murder

Published on: 9 Mar, 2022
Updated on: 10 Mar, 2022

Dane Massam has been found guilty of murdering his on-off partner Helen Anderson whose body was dumped in Guildford.

A man has been convicted of murdering his partner, whose body was found in woods in Guildford.

Helen Anderson’s body was discovered by a member of the public near the Stoke interchange on the A3 at Guildford on Monday, August 23 after her partner Dane Messam 52, of Henry Road in Hackney, London drove it there in a decommissioned double-decker bus.

The jury at Guildford Crown Court heard that later the same day, he purchased cleaning products, including bleach, to clean the bus and cancelled her plane ticket to Jamaica. They had been due to fly there just two days later for the funeral of Messam’s mother.

Messam, who was involved in an on-off relationship with Helen, was quickly identified as the suspect. He was later found driving a red and white decommissioned double-decker bus near Bicester and arrested the evening after Helen’s body was discovered (Tuesday, August 24).

The double-decker bus in which Helen Anderson’s body was transported to Guildford. One media report says the couple were living on the bus.

Helen was last seen alive on the night of Friday 20 August when she withdrew money from a cash point with the defendant and the police were unable to find any trace of her after that.

Rebecca Millardship from the CPS said: “Helen had been in a relationship for some time with the defendant and there was a history of domestic violence.

“In police interviews, Messam first claimed Helen had a history of disappearing and then attempted to blame a friend for Helen’s murder, saying he had taken the bus and killed her, but the jury was able to see through his story.”

Detective Chief Inspector Emma Vickers, from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team, said: “Our thoughts remain with Helen’s friends and family, and we hope that the guilty verdict today will bring them some closure and allow them to start rebuilding their lives.”

Sentencing is due to take place at Guildford Crown Court on April 22.

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