A builder accused of murdering two sex workers lied to police about the death of one woman because he did no think they would believe it was an accident after she ‘tripped on a banana skin like a cartoon character’, a court heard.
Mark Brown, 41, of Squirrel Close, St Leonards-on-Sea denies murdering Alexandra Morgan and Leah Ware at Little Bridge Farm near Hastings, East Sussex where he rented land and a barn.
Brown had arranged to meet escort Miss Morgan, 34, at the rented farm buildings near Hastings where he had a car workshop.
The father-of-three told Hove Crown Court that as he went to turn on the heating on November 14, 2021, she tripped over some tools lying on the floor.
Under cross examination, Brown admitted that he had lied to police about the disappearance of Miss Morgan.
‘I knew. She was lying there dead on the floor. No-one in their right mind would walk in there and say it looked like an accident,’ he said.
‘It’s going to sound horribly selfish. She fell over and died that day but my life ended that day. If I could swap places with her I would.’
The court heard Miss Morgan flew through the air like ‘a cartoon character slipping banana skin’ and hit her head on the work tools.
He told the court when he got to Miss Morgan she was bleeding heavily from her head and began quivering, so he tried gave her first aid.
When CPR failed, he told the court, he searched for a pulse before he realised she was dead.
A jury heard that Brown thought it ‘looked like a murder scene’ and in a panic decided to clean it all up and hide the body.
Duncan Atkinson KC, prosecuting, asked Brown to name a contact who was going to set up Miss Morgan in business as a webcam girl.
Brown replied: ‘None of your business. I’ve got a family to protect’.
