Mohammed Durnion, who strangled mother-of-two Reanne Coulson and buried her body in a shallow grave on the outskirts of Coventry, has been found guilty of manslaughter but cleared of murder at Warwick Crown Court.
Ms Coulson, 34, went missing in May 2025.
Her family raised the alarm after she failed to contact them on her birthday, 17 June.
Her body was found in late June in Binley Woods.
Durnion, 42, was convicted by a majority 11-1 verdict on Tuesday after jurors heard how he used petrol to set part of Ms Coulson’s body on fire.
Durnion, of Paynes Lane, Coventry, showed no obvious reaction in the dock as the verdict was returned.
Jurors had been instructed to find the labourer guilty of the alternative charge of manslaughter if they believed he had not intended to cause really serious bodily harm to Ms Coulson.
He claimed that the 33-year-old died from a drug overdose on the night of 21 May 2025, when he had taken “stupid amounts” of cocaine and panicked, before burying her body in woodland five miles from his home.
Prosecutors alleged that Ms Coulson had been attacked and strangled, causing her death.
Jurors also convicted Durnion’s friend and fellow ground worker Adam Moore of assisting an offender on 22 May by helping in the disposal of Ms Coulson’s body in Binley Woods.
Moore, 39, of Marlcroft, Willenhall, Coventry, had denied the charge, claiming hat he attended the woods simply to look for Durnion.
Footage of Durnion taking officers to the grave, near a bridleway, and speaking to two officers outside his flat, was issued by West Midlands Police after he was found guilty.
Video was also released of a subsequent search by police, involving the use of a mobile phone as a torch, which did not uncover the victim’s body hidden in a bedroom.
On the footage filmed in woodland on 27 June 2025, Durnion can be seen pointing towards undergrowth, telling police “she is under there” and saying the body is “deep enough”.
Durnion initially refused to answer police questions after his arrest on 24 June, but took officers to the makeshift grave after being shown footage of a media appeal made by his victim’s relatives.
A three-week trial heard police were sent to Durnion’s flat after a 999 call made by a neighbour who heard Ms Coulson, a sex worker who was known to take drugs, shouting for help.
Durnion could give no explanation at his trial for severe neck and head injuries suffered by Ms Coulson, who was 5ft 1ins and weighed less than nine stone.
He was seen by a witness smirking while carrying a suitcase he had used to move the body, and went on a drugs binge before his arrest.
Opening the case at the start of the trial, prosecutor Timothy Cray KC said Ms Coulson disappeared on 21 May last year after attending a support group at a Catholic Church where she appeared to be well.
About an hour or so later, Mr Cray said, Durnion’s neighbour heard a woman “screaming in fear” and dialled 999 at 11.26pm.
The court heard police searched Durnion’s address in the early hours of the following day, after he had left the property.
Mr Cray said: “We say that the timing and circumstances suggest that this was a deliberate attack by a powerfully built man, on a vulnerable and defenceless woman who he had taken back to his address.
“One of the circumstances to look at is how long they had been together in the flat. The evidence is that the attack began within a minute of the defendant arriving at the flat around 11.22pm.
Mr Cray added: “The police did not find her body because he hid her and then he threw the uniformed officers off the scent.
“We suggest that he was acting and knew exactly what he was doing, which was to cover up the fact that he had killed Reanne and hidden her body inside his flat.”
Detective Inspector Nigel Box, of West Midlands Police, said of the victim’s relatives: “The family are understandably mortified and heartbroken, and they have been ever since finding out what happened to Reanne.
“We have supported them as best as we possibly can throughout the investigation, throughout the court process.
“We’re heartbroken for them. Reanne was a mother, she was an auntie, she was a sister, she was a daughter, and our heart goes out to the family.”
West Midlands Police said a review of the circumstances around the search of the premises was carried out by its Professional Standards Department.
In a statement the force said: “No misconduct was identified although some opportunities for learning were identified and implemented.
“We informed Reanne’s family of the review and expressed our regret we were not able to find her on the May 21. We have liaised with Reanne’s family throughout the investigation into her death.”
Both defendants will be sentenced on Thursday.
