A 15-year-old boy was convicted of the murder of his 12-year-old who authorities believe was stabbed more than 70 times
(Photo : Pexels / Anton Atanasov)
England authorities said that the 15-year-old defendant denied the charges of murder despite saying he did attack 12-year-old Roberts Buncis out of self-defense.

England authorities convicted a 15-year-old boy for the murder of his 12-year-old friend. The suspect stabbed his friend more than 70 times and attempted to decapitate him. A  jury is now deliberating the suspect's sentence.

Authorities discovered the body of the victim, Roberts Buncis of Boston, Lincolnshire, England, on December 12 in a wooded area near his home. Police said that the young boy had stab wounds from more than 70 hits. They also discovered markings on his neck that suggested the killer tried to behead him.

Brutal Stabbing Murder

Last week, a Lincoln Crown Court jury convicted the 15-year-old defendant for the murder of the victim. The young boy was only 14 years old at the time of the conviction and confessed to injuring Buncis but did not admit that he was responsible for the boy's murder.

During the trial, pathologist professor Guy Rutty said that officials found 22 different injury sites on Buncis' body. He added that the defendant attempted to remove the victim's hand or fingers during the crime, Rutty said.

Police who investigated the crime scene said the defendant left a broken knife wedged inside the skull of his victim. The 15-year-old said he met up with Buncis in the woods to exchange marijuana for money. After the victim allegedly showed up empty-handed, the defendant went into a fit of rage, Crime Online reported.

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During the encounter, the defendant said that Buncis brandished a knife and tried to attack him, who accused him of getting out of bed "for nothing." The suspect said he was confused at the disorder of the victim's anger. The defendant said that while he was laughing, the victim allegedly tried to stab him, causing him to panic and grabbing the knife off of Buncis.

He said he remembered stabbing Buncis once in the neck but had no recollection of the more than 70 other hits that the victim received. He then allegedly ran back home and tried to conceal the murder weapon. The defendant also burned the clothes and gloves he was wearing to hide his involvement with the attack.

Unplanned Murder

Later on, the suspect contacted a friend, saying that "things went wrong" and said that the confrontation with Buncis was not supposed to turn out the way that it did.

Prosecutor Mary Loram QC asked the defendant on Wednesday regarding the incident. She questioned the young boy that if he attacked the victim using his own knife, what reason did he have to kill him. The defendant simply answered with "I don't know."

Loram continued to ask if the defendant was angry at the victim because he hurt his hand, to which he replied that he was. But when the teenager was questioned whether or not he stabbed the victim more than 70 times, he denied that he was responsible for the many stab wounds, BBC reported.

Loram accused the defendant of making up his story after he did not answer questions the police asked him in the early stages of the investigation. She said that he had not yet come up with his cover-up before coming to the jury with his lies. However, the defendant denied lying to the jury.

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