Gosport murder trial: Jury is told that alleged killer told victim 'he had always fancied her' hours before she died

AN ALLEGED killer accused of mutilating a mum-of-three and slitting her throat told her that ‘he’d always fancied her’ just hours before her death, a court heard.
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Jurors were told both Brendan Rowan-Davies and his friend Will Vallender, who had sex with Ms Case in the early hours before her death, had been at her home in Grange Crescent, Gosport, on the evening of July 30.

Winchester Crown Court heard Ms Case was found naked, with her hands bound and throat slit on the edge of her bed by firefighters called to tackle a fire at the house at around 8.15am to 8.30am.

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Rowan-Davies, 29, of Trinity Close, is on trial accused of torturing and then killing Ms Case. He denies murder and arson.

Kelly-Anne Case Picture: Family handout/Hampshire policeKelly-Anne Case Picture: Family handout/Hampshire police
Kelly-Anne Case Picture: Family handout/Hampshire police

Prosecutor William Mousley QC said when the defendant, Mr Vallender and Ms Case were together from around 12.24am, Rowan-Davies told her that ‘he’d always fancied her’.

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The prosecutor said: ‘At one point in the conversation Brendan Rowan-Davies told Kelly-Anne that he’d always fancied her, and she laughed at him.

‘It appears they’d known each other for some years before but had not seen each other in recent times.’

The aftermath of the fire at Grange Crescent Picture: Chris Moorhouse     (310719-93)The aftermath of the fire at Grange Crescent Picture: Chris Moorhouse     (310719-93)
The aftermath of the fire at Grange Crescent Picture: Chris Moorhouse (310719-93)
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Bloodstained white trainers were later recovered by detectives. DNA found on the exterior of the shoes was more than a billion times likely to be Ms Case’s, and DNA from inside the shoe was similarly more likely to be that of Rowan-Davies.

Underwear later discovered by police in Rowan-Davies’ bin shed was found to be that of a friend of Ms Case, the court heard.

CCTV referred to in court showed Mr Vallender and the defendant left Ms Case’s home at 6.27am, returning to Mr Vallender’s home in Wyatt Court.

Footage shows Rowan-Davies left the block at 6.45am, taxing a taxi from Orhans Kebab to his home in Trinity Close and arrived at 7am wearing black shorts.

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When he left at 7.23am he had changed clothes and took a bus to the eastern end of Grange Close, images shown in court revealed.

Jurors saw internal and external CCTV footage from the bus showing the defendant, who was also seen by a friend, Richard Waite, driving a van as the defendant walked in Grange Close, near Ms Case’s home.

When the defendant was asked by a friend how he was, Rowan-Davies ‘was not his friendly self and seemed somewhat distracted, just answering his question with yeah, not bad’, Mr Mousley said.

By 8.33am he was at his mother’s home in Chilworth Grove, Gosport, and left at 9am having changed his clothes for a second time.

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He had been seen in an alleyway where later clothing matching those he had been seen wearing were found smouldering in a pile at 11.10am.

CCTV from 9.34am showed the defendant returning from a bin shed at his home in Trinity Close having moments before been carrying a blue plastic bag.

When he found out about Ms Case, Mr Vallender contacted the defendant concerned they had been the last two people to see her alive, Mr Mousley said. Mr Vallender contacted police and said his friend should do the same.

But when police found Rowan-Davies at his brother’s home in Buckingham Green, Buckland, on July 31, he said was planning to call officers ‘in a bit’.

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Mr Mousley said: ‘When told it was a murder in Gosport he replied: “I had an idea about that”.’

In opening, Mr Mousley said: ‘A whole range of circumstances when taken together point to the inescapable conclusion that the person who did it was Brendan Rowan-Davies.

‘The timings, his presence, his return journey, the DNA, the changes of clothing, the disposal of clothing and shoes, the cable ties, leaving Gosport, ignoring Mr Vallender, not contacting the police, the theft of underwear and no comment interviews.

‘All of that, we say, when put together, paints the clearest picture as to who it was who was responsible.’

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Earlier in the opening, Mr Mousley said the bloody outline of a blade had been found on Ms Case’s bed.

The prosecutor said Ms Case called another man at 11.47pm on July 29. Mr Mousley said: ‘She was emotional and sounded drunk. She was asking for help, reporting two men had been to the house and one strangled her and sex had been demanded.

‘Such comments were not necessarily unusual from Kelly-Anne. (Her friend) told her to lock the door.’

(Proceeding)