CCTV footage has revealed the final moments that Chereiss Bailey was seen alive before her tragic murder and the subsequent disposal of her body.
On 27 September last year, John Anslow was captured on Great Bridge Street in West Bromwich meeting with Ms Bailey. Later, CCTV showed Ms Bailey pushing Anslow in his wheelchair near his bungalow on Stour Street-the last time she was seen alive.
Anslow, 65, who had presented himself as disabled, was in fact a violent offender with a history of raping underage girls. Inside his home, he violently attacked Ms Bailey, a 36-year-old mother, leaving her with multiple injuries including bruises and bite marks to intimate areas; she had also been strangled.
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The reasons behind Anslow’s attack remain unclear. He told police that Ms Bailey had stolen his money and claimed he killed her accidentally in self-defence during a struggle. However, he chose not to give evidence during his trial.
On the morning of 28 September, Anslow contacted his daughter, Hayley-marie Ferguson, who arrived at his home by taxi, bringing paving slabs with her. She assisted with cleaning the property initially but later that evening went to a fancy dress event themed around Peaky Blinders, appearing unaffected.
Returning to her father’s house, Ferguson was later seen on CCTV with Anslow wheeling Ms Bailey’s body, which had been redressed, in the wheelchair. They transported the body to the Walsall Canal near the bridge on Ryders Green Road, where it was tied to paving slabs and submerged. Police recovered her body from the canal on 7 October.
At Birmingham Crown Court, Anslow was found guilty of Ms Bailey’s murder, having already admitted to preventing the lawful and decent burial of her body. Ferguson, 42, from Heronville Road, West Bromwich, was not implicated in the killing itself but was convicted of preventing the lawful and decent burial and assisting an offender. Sentencing for both is scheduled for a later date.