Couple sues after buying house of horrors

WAKEFIELD, England, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A court battle is under way in the northern English town of Wakefield where a couple was unaware the house they bought was a "house of horrors."

Alan and Susan Sykes filed the lawsuit after watching a crime documentary that recounted how a biologist from Leeds University had killed his 13-year-old adopted daughter 20 years ago and chopped her body into 105 pieces, which were then hidden around the house.

The couple realized it had occurred in their home.

The couple claim they would never have bought the house in Wakefield if the sellers, James and Alison Taylor-Rose, had told them about the recent history of the $150,000 property, The Times of London said Thursday.

Parts of the girl's body were hidden under the floorboards; others were secreted in plant pots and a coffee jar. Some were never found.

Friday, the Sykeses will seek to overturn a county court ruling the Taylor-Roses were not obliged to disclose the murder.

The Taylor-Roses were also unaware of the property's history when they first purchased it in 1998, but were tipped off six months later by an anonymous note left in their mailbox, the newspaper said.