Boyfriend killed partner, court told

A JILTED boyfriend accused of murdering a Suffolk woman cut off her hair and taped her semi-naked body to railings before setting light to it, a court heard.

Hours before her hear death 37-year-old fitness enthusiast Dawn Walker had ended her two-year relationship with Kevin Nunn because she had recently started seeing a former boyfriend, Ipswich Crown Court was told yesterday.

After murdering Miss Walker, Nunn allegedly took her body to an isolated spot at Fornham Park near Bury St Edmunds and, after taping it to railings at a sluice, poured petrol over her left ankle and genital area and burned her.

Miss Walker suffered 95% burns to the surface of her body and a pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination was unable to give a cause of death.

However, he said the nature and pattern of the burns suggested she was unconscious or dead when her killer poured petrol over her and started the fire.

Graham Parkins QC, prosecuting, said that after Miss Walker's body had been burned it was removed from the railings and deposited some time later 200 yards away in grass close to a footpath next to the River Lark, where it could easily be seen by people walking their dogs.

When it was discovered by a woman out walking with her daughter it was naked from the waist down and a sweatshirt and fleece had been put on the upper body.

Mr Parkins said that Miss Walker's hair had been cut close to her scalp with clippers rather than scissors and an unpleasant feature of the case was that a piece of reed had been inserted in her anus.

He said that it would have taken two people to move the body as there was no evidence of it being dragged across the ground.

Nunn 45, formerly of Wrights Way, Woolpit, has denied murdering his former girlfriend in February last year.

His friend Nigel Hill, 37, of Tostock Road, Beyton, has denied helping Nunn to conceal Miss Walker's body.

Outlining the background to the case, Mr Parkins said that Nunn and Miss Walker had a two year relationship which had come to an end just a few hours before she was killed.

He alleged that Nunn, who had been jealous and possessive during their relationship, murdered Miss Walker and then enlisted Hill's help to move her body.

The court heard that 12 hours before Miss Walker's body was discovered, one of her neighbours was setting off for work at 4.50am when she saw a man she recognised as Nunn and another man with shaggy shoulder length hair carrying what looked like a heavy carpet or a bag of laundry across Miss Walker's front lawn into a silver car.

She told police that when she drove towards them the second man dropped his end of the object and waved his hands and pointed in her direction before making off.

Mr Parkins claimed that the second man was Hill, who had worked with Miss Walker at Abbey Hine printers in Bury St Edmunds and was a friend of Nunn.

He also alleged that the silver car into which the heavy object was placed belonged to Hill.

He told the court that an expert in the science of pollen spores had found “strong support” that pollen from samples found in Hill's car had come from the crime scene.

Mr Parkins further claimed that after Hill found out that police wanted to speak to him he had disposed of boots and trousers he had been wearing during the relevant period, erased some details from his mobile telephone and had his hair cut.

The court also heard how, in the weeks before her death, Miss Walker had bumped into a former boyfriend called Stuart White while shopping in Bury St Edmunds and had arranged to meet up with him on several occasions.

Meanwhile her relationship with Nunn had been deteriorating and he was aware of her contact with Mr White and knew that he had sent her flowers.

Shortly before her death Miss Walker told Mr White that she wanted to be with him and on February 2 she had met up with Nunn and ended their relationship, alleged Mr Parkins.

He said that at about 10pm that evening two of Miss Walker's neighbours in Oak Close, Fornham St Martin had heard a couple arguing outside Miss Walker's house and the sound of a woman screaming.

Mr Parkins claimed that Nunn had lied to the police about the time he met Miss Walker that night and accused him of using Miss Walker's mobile phone as part of a “carefully structured plan” to set up a supposed call to his phone from her to make it look as though she had harmed herself.

He told officers that the call, which he had “inadvertently deleted”, was made to his phone in the early hours of February 3 and in it Miss Walker had called out his name and was sobbing and breathing heavily.

Mr Parkins said that prior to Miss Walker's body being found Nunn had tried to paint a picture of himself as a desperate man trying to find out where she was.

He also claimed that Nunn had tried to cover his tracks by telling police he had gone for a walk along the River Lark on February 3 in order to account for his footprints being found there.

The trial, which is expected to last seven weeks, was adjourned until Monday.