Donald Excell, 49, has been jailed of life for the brutal murder of his cousin, 58-year-old Rita Lambourne, after he walked into her house and attacked her with an axe15:57, 28 May 2026Man guilty of cousin's axe murderA man has been sentenced to life in prison for brutally murdering his cousin with an axe in her home.‌Police previously called the horrific incident, which saw Donald Excell, 49, fatally attack 58-year-old Rita Lambourne, an "extremely distressing case".‌Ms Lambourne was killed in her home at Bexhill, East Sussex, on February 12 2025 moments after Excell was pictured on CCTV calmly walking up to her home in the dead of night carrying an axe.‌In December the trial heard how Excell struck her at least four times with the axe, with such force that the blade pierced her heart. Just three minutes after the murderous attack Excell casually walked out of the property. He has now been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 31 years.At the time of the attack Ms Lambourne had been on the phone to her partner, who immediately contacted family members to check on her. Her sister Claire Haldane arrived to find Ms Lambourne lying in her living room and began CPR.‌Excell, 49, from Seabourne Road, Bexhill, had denied murder and possession of a bladed article, but was convicted unanimously at Hove Crown Court in December.At that time the trial heard that Ms Lambourne and Excell had gotten on fairly well until 2022 when there had been a “falling out”. Excell reportedly believed there had been a paedophile ring in the family, which Ms Lambourne had covered up.‌Lucie Lambourne, Rita Lambourne's daughter, described how Excell made her mother feel "petrified" when he "flipped", and recounted a time when he flew into a rage and accused her of "all sorts of horrible things that aren't true".Her sister Claire Haldane told jurors: “She said she was scared, she was terrified, she wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but she wouldn’t show him she was scared.”The police investigation into the murder stalled when cops were unable to find the weapon used in the killing. That changed when some teenage boys later discovered a rucksack, which contained clothing and a sheath for an axe, when fishing at a lake north of Bexhill.‌Two weeks later police divers discovered an axe during a search of the lake.Speaking at the time of the guilty verdict, Det Ch Insp Alex Campbell said: "This has been an extremely distressing case for everyone involved, particularly Rita's family and friends, as well as the wider community."Article continues below"We hope that this outcome provides some measure of closure for those who loved Rita."