UK Model's Killer Given Two Life Sentences, But Did He Also Rape Woman in Spain?

On Friday, November 24, Mark Dixie, 47, was given another life sentence for a rape committed when he was just 16.

Dixie, a pub chef, is already serving a minimum of 34 years for murdering Sally Anne, who was attacked within meters of her home in Croydon, south London in 2005.

At his trial in 2008 Dixie, who was faced with insurmountable DNA evidence, cynically claimed he came upon the 18-year-old while high on cocaine and had sex with her naked, prone and unconscious body but denied stabbing her.

On Friday, he was given two additional life sentences at Southwark Crown Court for raping two women, one in 1987 and the other in 2002, both in the Croydon area.

One of the women escaped after Dixie left her tied to the front seat of her car and then set it on fire.

Raped Woman After Fracturing Her Skull

The second victim was suffered a fractured skull after being hit over the head with a knife sharpener and was sexually assaulted as she lay bleeding and unconscious.

Outside court on Friday Detective Chief Inspector Chris Le Pere described Dixie as a "monster."

"Dixie is a hugely dangerous sexual predator, who I believe has carried out attacks on other women. I would ask people to take a look a Dixie's photograph and speak to police or Crimestoppers if they think they were a victim of his," said DCI Le Pere.

Dutchman Wrongly Convicted of Rape in Spain

In September, a Dutchman who spent 12 years in prison in Spain for a crime Dixie committed claimed the bungling of Spanish police had led to Sally Anne's death.

Romano van der Dussen was freed last year after his conviction for raping a Spanish woman in the resort of Fuengirola in August 2003 was quashed.

"The horrendous thing is, if Spanish police had done their job properly they might have arrested Dixie in 2003 and Sally Anne would still be alive," said van der Dussen, who was convicted despite his DNA not matching a sample on the woman.

​Spain's Supreme Court was told there was a one in 54 million chance the DNA found on the Fuengirola victim did not belong to Dixie.

Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar is now reportedly considering making a film based on van der Dussen's ordeal.

In court in July this year, prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said Dixie had recently confessed to killing Sally Anne and the other attacks in 1987 and 2002. 

"In January 2015, the defendant wrote to the police indicating that he wanted to tell the truth about what had happened to Sally Anne, because at the trial he denied being responsible for the murder," said Mr. Aylett.