An asylum seeker who stabbed a hotel worker to death and was seen laughing and dancing shortly afterwards has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years.
Deng Chol Majek followed Rhiannon Whyte from Walsall’s Park Inn Hotel to the deserted Bescot Stadium railway station, where he launched a vicious attack which saw her stabbed 23 times with a screwdriver.
The 27-year-old mother, who leaves behind a five-year-old son, suffered a fatal brain stem injury and died in hospital three days later.
Addressing Majek in the dock, her mother Donna Whyte described him as an “evil nightmare” and said: “Let me see you dancing now.”
In an emotional victim impact statement, her sister Alex Whyte said Majek carried out a “vicious and pitiless assault on a terrified and defenceless young woman who he claims never to have spoken to or noticed”.
She added: “You continue to show no remorse and to take no responsibility for your cowardly actions. We still don’t know or understand why you stalked, hunted and preyed upon Rhiannon. Cornering her before unleashing your vicious and unprovoked attack.
“I honestly feel that calling you demonic and inhuman is justifiable in the circumstances. What are we supposed to say? You brutalised Rhiannon and then partied as if nothing had happened. You celebrated. You might as well have danced on her grave.”
Jurors at Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that Majek had been reported to security at Park Inn, where he lived and Whyte worked, after staring at three female staff members for prolonged periods on 20 October 2024.
After Whyte finished work at 11pm, she was then “tracked” by Majek to the station, with CCTV showing him disappearing from view for about 90 seconds while he attacked her.
Her injuries included 19 wounds to her head, and she was found injured in a shelter on the platform by the driver and guard of the train that pulled in about five minutes later.
In the immediate aftermath, Majek walked to the Caldmore Green area of Walsall to buy a beer and was recorded on CCTV wiping what appeared to be blood from his trousers.
He returned to the hotel at 12.13am and changed his bloodstained flip-flops for trainers and was seen dancing with other residents in the car park, within sight of the emergency vehicles who were attempting to save Whyte’s life.
No motive for the killing was given at the trial, but Majek, who was about 10 inches taller than Ms Whyte, had brushed past her earlier in the evening as he left the hotel to smoke.
At his trial, Majek claimed he was not a figure caught on CCTV tracking Whyte and told jurors he left a pregnant wife behind in Sudan.
The only agreed facts relating to his background presented to the jury were that he had no previous convictions or cautions recorded against him and that he had been arrested in Kaiserslautern in Germany in August 2023 after kicking the door of a train.
The killer, who is believed to have entered the UK by small boat less than three months before the killing, is known to have given authorities in Germany a date of birth that would mean he is now 28.
Passing sentence at Coventry Crown Court, Mr Justice Soole told Majek: “The evidence against you, in particular CCTV and DNA, was overwhelming. You continue to deny that you were the assailant.
“The court is thus left with no explanation of what possessed you to murder a member of the hotel staff, who together with her colleagues, had been serving and helping you and your fellow residents.”
He added that Majek had shown “no empathy for the victim” and said: “The evidence shows a level of maturity which is consistent with your true age, and indeed, a chilling composure in every aspect of your behaviour.”
Carla Harris, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Rhiannon Whyte should have been able to go to work and come home safely – but Deng Chol Majek robbed her of her life and future.
“He attacked her for no reason, and callously left her bleeding on a station platform. He then appeared to rejoice in his actions, having been caught laughing and dancing on footage an hour later.
“Although the stabbing itself was not captured on CCTV, the prosecution case against Chol Majek included DNA evidence, witness testimony and CCTV showing him stalking Rhiannon to the station and returning to the hotel in his distinctive bloodied clothing.
“He was also the only person to enter and leave the platform during the time of the attack. All of this allowed the jury to convict him of his crimes.
“Although nothing can bring Rhiannon back, I hope these convictions provide some sense of justice to her family and friends. The CPS is determined to bring violent offenders to justice wherever there is the evidence to do so.”
