A MURDERER who stabbed his flatmate to death just a week after she moved in had images of children being sexually abused.

Ryan Justin Thornton, 20, killed 34-year-old Stela Marisabel Domador-Kuzma in her bedroom on Sunday, July 8.

Venezuelan national Ms Domador-Kuzma had been living and working in the UK for four years. At the time of her murder, she was renting a room in a shared flat with Thornton and another woman.

On Tuesday, Thornton appeared at Poole Magistrates’ Court to admit 11 counts of possessing indecent images of children.

He had photographs in categories A, B and C. It is not known how many images were found by police.

Category A - the most severe - can include images which depict gross assault or sadism. The category also extends to all images that depict a child subjected to pain.

Prosecutors said the images were discovered on July 8, the day of Ms Domador-Kuzma’s death.

Police were called to Richmond Hill at 5am that day after reports a man - later identified as Thornton - had suffered stab wounds to his leg.

After launching an investigation, officers found Ms Domador-Kuzma’s body in her room at the Richmond Gardens flat.

A knife was recovered from the scene and a post-mortem examination revealed the victim died of stab wounds.

Police later revealed Thornton had moved into his room in the flat on Friday, June 22, and Ms Domador-Kuzma had moved into hers on Friday, June 29.

Thornton admitted murder at Winchester Crown Court in October. He was remanded into custody, and will return to the court to be sentenced on December 7.

It is expected that he will be dealt with for the indecent images on the same date.

In a moving statement released after Ms Domador-Kuzma’s death, her family said she had fled soaring crime rates in Venezuela in search of a better life.

The South American country is suffering an economic and political crisis.

“You made the difficult decision of leaving your home country and family behind in the hope of finding a new future in a place where peace and justice existed,” they said.

“You made Bournemouth your new home despite the cold weather as you fell in love with its beautiful landscape and beach. You soldiered on through the British summer with a jacket and scarf, jokes and a big smile on your face.”