Eddie MitchellA man has been convicted of murdering his cousin with an axe.
Donald Excell killed 58-year-old Rita Lambourne at her home in Bexhill, East Sussex, on 12 February.
Excell, 49 and from Seabourne Road, Bexhill, had denied murder and possession of a bladed article, but was convicted unanimously at Hove Crown Court.
He is due to be sentenced on 12 March 2026, with the judge ordering a psychiatric report.
HandoutMs Lambourne’s sister had found her body after receiving a worried phone call from another family member.
Her daughter Kerry had told the court Ms Lambourne and Excell regularly fell out and he would often try to start arguments.
In her evidence she said Excell made her mother feel “petrified” of him when he “flipped” during a car journey.
She told the jury the defendant’s “tone changed” on an occasion when her mother had given him a lift home.
He accused her of “all sorts of horrible things that aren’t true”, and then kicked the side of the car, she said.
Police secured a large amount of CCTV footage from the area as part of the case against Excell, who did not give evidence in his defence or provide an alibi when he was questioned.
One detective described it as the biggest amount he had ever seen during an investigation.
During the trial the members of the jury were shown CCTV footage of Excell walking towards Ms Lambourne’s home carrying an axe.
