A KILLER and serial rapist has died of a suspected liver disease.

Crane driver Kenwyn Coupland was jailed for life in 1973 for the rape and murder of mother-of-three Aline Ford, 36, whose body was discovered dumped in the Eston Hills, east Cleveland.

Coupland had been living in Dormanstown, Redcar, at the time.

He also pleaded guilty to the rape of a girl in Leeds and the attempted rape of a young mother at Guisborough, the month before he strangled Mrs Ford with her scarf as she walked the family's dog.

The court heard that Coupland had been jailed in 1966 for the rape of a 12-year-old girl, as well as an indecent assault on a 16-year-old girl,

Cardiff-born Coupland, 59, was taken from Parc Prison, Bridgend, to the nearby Princess of Wales Hospital, where he died at the weekend. An inquest is expected to be opened this week.