Published: 14/01/2010 00:00 -
Updated: 20/01/2010 13:37
A MAN and his prostitute girlfriend murdered their landlord and scattered his remains across Hertfordshire and Leicestershire in a calculated bid to steal his assets, according to prosecutors at the couple's trial.
It was alleged at St Albans Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday, January 13) that Stephen Marshall, 38, and Sarah Bush, 21, stabbed Jeffrey Howe to death at his home in Southgate, north London, before cutting up and dumping the body at several remote sites - including Barwick, near Much Hadham, and Puckeridge.
But Marshall, of Borehamwood, and Bush, of Southgate, plead not guilty to murder. Marshall admits dismembering the body, dumping the remains and misleading police about Mr Howe's whereabouts, but Bush denies these charges.
Marshall says he was absent from the flat when the killing took place and blames Bush. However, Bush also denies being on the scene.
Prosecuting counsel Stuart Trimmer QC told jurors the pair cashed in immediately after killing the 49-year-old kitchen salesman between March 8 and 9 last year, taking over his bank account and chequebook and even selling his Saab car on internet auction site eBay.
Marshall also sold Mr Howe's mobile phone, while Bush ordered takeaways and opened a Littlewoods account for herself.
The couple told others that Mr Howe had "simply packed and gone", even telling his brother he had moved out, but - according to Mr Trimmer - they were in fact storing his dismembered body and preparing to dispose of it.
He said: "A plan appears to have evolved in advance of the murder. The plan was to adopt the identity of Mr Howe insofar as that allowed the seizure of all his finances and possessions. The flat was to be seized by the device of the 'disappearance' of Mr Howe."
"The behaviour of both defendants immediately following the murder and the cutting up and packaging of the body demonstrates the depth on their involvement in the plan. Neither faltered, neither lost their nerve. Neither chose to call the police or anybody else, rather both set about immediately using what they could."
On March 22, the dead man's left leg was found by the side of a road in Cottered near Buntingford. One week later, his left forearm was discovered in Wheathampstead, and on March 31 his mutilated head was found in Leicestershire.
The grim trail of death came to an end when Mr Howe's torso and upper arms were discovered in Gore Lane in Barwick and his right leg was found in a lay-by off the A10 near Puckeridge. His hands are still missing.
It was alleged that Marshall probably took the lead in the "joint killing" and dismemberment. However, there was said to be evidence that Bush was also physically involved in murdering the salesman, who died of a single stab wound to the back.
Mr Trimmer told the court that Marshall and Bush had been in a relationship since 2008 and were living in the victim's flat at the time of his death. He added Marshall and Mr Howe had worked together at the same kitchen supplies company.
Mr Howe had allowed the couple to move in with him but later found he could not get rid of them. They were not paying any rent and were stealing his food - but, said Mr Trimmer, they still treated the property as if it was their own and Bush even told her banks it was her new permanent address.
He added the scheme involved a false tenancy agreement with Mr Howe's forged signature, which would be used to claim housing benefit. In it, Bush claimed she had moved to the property in December 2008 and her landlord was living in Reading. A mobile contact number, which was claimed to be Mr Howe's, later turned out to be Marshall's.
Although Bush denied being present during the killing, Mr Trimmer said: "When she was with friends and quite drunk, she made several statements indicating she knew all about the lead-up to the murder and was party to it.
"She said she saw Howe killed. She helped in the killing. She said she saw Marshall stab him in the back and she put a pillow over his face to stop the noise. Witnesses described her as uttering 'random words' such as 'lots of blood', 'so much blood' and 'hands in Epping Forest'."
He added licence plate recognition cameras show the couple cashing a forged cheque and travelling up the M1 on March 19 last year. Mobile phone technology also shows Marshall made a call from his phone in Brookfield Anstey, Leicestershire, just 18km (11 miles) from where Jeffrey Howe's head was found.
Mr Howe's limbs were "skilfully and cleanly" removed, the jury heard today (Thursday January 14).
Home Office pathologist Simon Poole told the murder trial at St Albans Crown Court that, rather than being sawn up, the limbs had been separated at the joints.
Mr Trimmer asked how the kitchen salesman's left leg, found in Cottered last March, had been removed.
Mr Poole replied: "It appeared to have been done very skilfully. It was detached very cleanly."
The pathologist told the jury the limb had been separated from the body at the hip area.
Days later, he said he examined a left forearm that had been found at Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire and also found that the limb had been separated at the wrist joint and at the elbow joint.
The joints, he told the jury, had been "disarticulated".
Mr Poole said he was then involved in the examination of his right leg, which was discovered on April 7 last year beside a road in Puckeridge, which was in two parts. Once again, he said that the top of the leg had been separated from the body where it met the hip joint.
He said he also found that the knee joint had been separated and there was no evidence that the bone structure had been cut through.
Mr Poole then told the jury how, on April 12 last year at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, he examined the torso of Mr Howe, which had been discovered in a suitcase in Gore Lane, Barwick. He said he discovered two stab wounds on the back of the body.
He described it as a "deep" stab wound to the left side of the back, which had passed through the body, penetrated the muscles between the ribs and resulted in a cut wound to the left lung. He believed this was the wound that caused Mr Howe's death, but it would not have been instantaneous.
He added that he had found a second wound in Mr Howe's back which was not so deep.
The case continues.
But Marshall, of Borehamwood, and Bush, of Southgate, plead not guilty to murder. Marshall admits dismembering the body, dumping the remains and misleading police about Mr Howe's whereabouts, but Bush denies these charges.
Marshall says he was absent from the flat when the killing took place and blames Bush. However, Bush also denies being on the scene.
Prosecuting counsel Stuart Trimmer QC told jurors the pair cashed in immediately after killing the 49-year-old kitchen salesman between March 8 and 9 last year, taking over his bank account and chequebook and even selling his Saab car on internet auction site eBay.
Marshall also sold Mr Howe's mobile phone, while Bush ordered takeaways and opened a Littlewoods account for herself.
The couple told others that Mr Howe had "simply packed and gone", even telling his brother he had moved out, but - according to Mr Trimmer - they were in fact storing his dismembered body and preparing to dispose of it.
He said: "A plan appears to have evolved in advance of the murder. The plan was to adopt the identity of Mr Howe insofar as that allowed the seizure of all his finances and possessions. The flat was to be seized by the device of the 'disappearance' of Mr Howe."
"The behaviour of both defendants immediately following the murder and the cutting up and packaging of the body demonstrates the depth on their involvement in the plan. Neither faltered, neither lost their nerve. Neither chose to call the police or anybody else, rather both set about immediately using what they could."
On March 22, the dead man's left leg was found by the side of a road in Cottered near Buntingford. One week later, his left forearm was discovered in Wheathampstead, and on March 31 his mutilated head was found in Leicestershire.
The grim trail of death came to an end when Mr Howe's torso and upper arms were discovered in Gore Lane in Barwick and his right leg was found in a lay-by off the A10 near Puckeridge. His hands are still missing.
It was alleged that Marshall probably took the lead in the "joint killing" and dismemberment. However, there was said to be evidence that Bush was also physically involved in murdering the salesman, who died of a single stab wound to the back.
Mr Trimmer told the court that Marshall and Bush had been in a relationship since 2008 and were living in the victim's flat at the time of his death. He added Marshall and Mr Howe had worked together at the same kitchen supplies company.
Mr Howe had allowed the couple to move in with him but later found he could not get rid of them. They were not paying any rent and were stealing his food - but, said Mr Trimmer, they still treated the property as if it was their own and Bush even told her banks it was her new permanent address.
He added the scheme involved a false tenancy agreement with Mr Howe's forged signature, which would be used to claim housing benefit. In it, Bush claimed she had moved to the property in December 2008 and her landlord was living in Reading. A mobile contact number, which was claimed to be Mr Howe's, later turned out to be Marshall's.
Although Bush denied being present during the killing, Mr Trimmer said: "When she was with friends and quite drunk, she made several statements indicating she knew all about the lead-up to the murder and was party to it.
"She said she saw Howe killed. She helped in the killing. She said she saw Marshall stab him in the back and she put a pillow over his face to stop the noise. Witnesses described her as uttering 'random words' such as 'lots of blood', 'so much blood' and 'hands in Epping Forest'."
He added licence plate recognition cameras show the couple cashing a forged cheque and travelling up the M1 on March 19 last year. Mobile phone technology also shows Marshall made a call from his phone in Brookfield Anstey, Leicestershire, just 18km (11 miles) from where Jeffrey Howe's head was found.
Mr Howe's limbs were "skilfully and cleanly" removed, the jury heard today (Thursday January 14).
Home Office pathologist Simon Poole told the murder trial at St Albans Crown Court that, rather than being sawn up, the limbs had been separated at the joints.
Mr Trimmer asked how the kitchen salesman's left leg, found in Cottered last March, had been removed.
Mr Poole replied: "It appeared to have been done very skilfully. It was detached very cleanly."
The pathologist told the jury the limb had been separated from the body at the hip area.
Days later, he said he examined a left forearm that had been found at Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire and also found that the limb had been separated at the wrist joint and at the elbow joint.
The joints, he told the jury, had been "disarticulated".
Mr Poole said he was then involved in the examination of his right leg, which was discovered on April 7 last year beside a road in Puckeridge, which was in two parts. Once again, he said that the top of the leg had been separated from the body where it met the hip joint.
He said he also found that the knee joint had been separated and there was no evidence that the bone structure had been cut through.
Mr Poole then told the jury how, on April 12 last year at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage, he examined the torso of Mr Howe, which had been discovered in a suitcase in Gore Lane, Barwick. He said he discovered two stab wounds on the back of the body.
He described it as a "deep" stab wound to the left side of the back, which had passed through the body, penetrated the muscles between the ribs and resulted in a cut wound to the left lung. He believed this was the wound that caused Mr Howe's death, but it would not have been instantaneous.
He added that he had found a second wound in Mr Howe's back which was not so deep.
The case continues.
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