Murder victim left trail of clues before meeting as if she knew she would die

A missing woman who is believed to have been murdered left a "handwritten trail of clues" for her sons and police before her disappearance, a court has heard.

Handwritten notes from Alex Morgan were found in her home after she disappeared in November 2021. They detailed her plans to meet up with Sussex man Mark Brown and included a PIN to allow access to her mobile phone.

Brown is now on trial for Alex’s murder and the murder of another woman, Leah Ware, at Hove Crown Court.

The second day of the trial heard Brown had offered Alex Morgan a highly-paid job at a hotel in Brighton at which he worked as security.

Alex met with Brown on the morning of November 14, being seen on CCTV following him onto land that Brown used at Little Bridge Farm, off Rock Lane in Hastings.

However, she clearly had some concerns about meeting Brown.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC claimed Alex "realised that it [the job] may not be above board" because she left a "trail of clues for her sons, and the police, to find".

She had left a note on a desk in her living room for her son, which read "let's go rollerblading" – in her son's bedroom was a box containing those rollerblades.

The jury heard from Mr Atkinson KC: "However, it now also contained items placed there by his mother. These included a large sum of cash, a mobile telephone and a handwritten note."

The note included the PIN for the phone, reports Sussex Live. Alex had written: "Photos evidence Brighton Premier Inn or Travel Lodge, security company on site," and then "check postcode TN34 5NY Rock Lane, opposite Bartletts".

Jurors also heard how Brown allegedly tried to cover his tracks after November 14 and made a "systematic attempt" to dispose of evidence. Alex's white Mini Cooper was picked up on ANPR cameras heading to her home and back again in the early hours of November 15 – prosecutors claim it was Brown driving it.

Mr Atkinson told the court: "What had caused the defendant to travel to Morgan’s home in the middle of the night? There are a number of possibilities. One is that he was seeking to create an impression of her still being alive when he knew that she was not.

"Another is that he was concerned that she had left something at her house that would implicate him in her disappearance. The latter is a strong possibility supported by the fact that as it turned out, Alex Morgan had left something behind."

Brown also allegedly enlisted the help of an associate to move Alex's car from his Little Bridge Farm site to Holmhurst Lane in Hastings.

Following police searches, Alex's remains were found at a building site in Sevenoaks where Brown worked – burnt bones were found in a skip, including teeth confirmed to be Alex's.

The court also heard of "strong factual and contextual similarities" between the disappearances of both Alex Morgan and Leah Ware.

Mr Atkinson said: "Both women can be traced to the defendant’s property at Little Bridge Farm and in each case the defendant took steps after their disappearance to distance himself from those events or to create a false impression that they were still alive.

"Each of them did not just disappear from Little Bridge Farm, but died there. And that each of them did not just happen to die at a time when they were with the defendant, but had been murdered by him."

Mark Brown, of Squirrel Close in St Leonards, denies both counts of murder.

The trial continues.

Source: Read Full Article