'Crazed maniac' who murdered cousin with axe jailed

A "crazed maniac" who murdered his cousin with an axe in her own home has been jailed for life. Donald Excell, 50, killed Rita Lambourne, 58, in Bexhill, East Sussex, on 12 February 2025. He denied murder and possession of a bladed article, but security camera footage captured him carrying the axe as he walked towards his cousin's house. Judge Christine Henson KC said Excell had become preoccupied with a self-made conspiracy theory about a paedophile cover-up that included Lambourne, though there was "absolutely no evidence" for this. She told Excell at Hove Crown Court on Thursday he would serve a minimum of 31 years for his cousin's murder. Excell struck Lambourne at least five times in what prosecutors described as a "frenzied attack". The 58-year-old was left with large, catastrophic wounds to her head and chest, the court was told. The hearing heard Excell had several previous convictions dating from 1996 for offences including assault, criminal damage, battery, threatening behaviour and assault of an emergency worker. In 2024, he assaulted his father, grabbing his neck and biting his nose as he demanded money during a dinner. On the night she was killed, Lambourne was speakin