Sixteen-year-old Becky Watts was suffocated to death during a “violent struggle”, after her stepbrother and his girlfriend decided to kidnap her apparently because they shared a sexual interest in teenage girls, a court heard.
Nathan Matthews, 28, and Shauna Hoare, 21, who was pregnant at the time, are accused of murdering Becky at her home in Crown Hill, Bristol, in February this year.
Bristol Crown Court heard on Wednesday that Becky was suffocated “fighting for her life” and, when dead, stabbed 15 times in the abdomen.
Her body was then dismembered with a power saw and stored in a shed near Mr Matthews and Ms Hoare's house in Bristol.
William Mousley QC, for the prosecution, told the jury that Becky's death was “the result of a plan by Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare to kidnap” the teenager.
“In addition to their apparent dislike of Becky, there is good reason to believe there was also a sexual motive behind the scheme ... and that a foreseeable conclusion to its being carried out would either be Becky's death or serious injury,” he said.
Mr Matthews and Ms Hoare then carried out “a deliberate, carefully planned and grotesquely executed plan to cover up her killing”, Mr Mousley said.
“Following her removal from her home, over the course of the next few days, her body was cut up with a knife and a power saw, the parts carefully packaged and then moved to another address and buried, where they were intended to be stored until a final solution found,” he said.
The court heard how Mr Matthews and Ms Hoare had twice engaged in a consensual threesome with a friend of Ms Hoare's.
Mr Mousley alleged that internet searches showed the two had a “shared interest” in teenage girls.
Jurors heard that Becky had told a friend she was scared of Mr Matthews and that he had threatened to kill her.
After his arrest, Mr Matthews told police that he had wanted to kidnap Becky “to scare her and teach her a lesson because she was selfish and treated his mother badly”.
Mr Matthews said he had taken a large bag, a stun gun, handcuffs, tape and a mask to Becky's home.
Karl and Donovan Demetrius, both 29, Jaydene Parsons, 23, and James Ireland, 23, have been charged with assisting an offender.
Mr Matthews admits killing her but denies murder and conspiracy to kidnap.
Ms Hoare denies murder, conspiracy to kidnap, perverting the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial and possessing a prohibited weapon.
The case continues.
The Independent