A court has heard there was evidence cash was missing from an 86-year-old murder victim’s purse and a suspect had been seen gambling at a social club the day after the killing.
Today, the trial continued of David Newton, 70, of Magazine Lane in Wisbech. He denies the murder of Una Crown, also of Magazine Lane in Wisbech.
The court heard from prosecutor John Price, who told the court that cash was missing from Mrs Crown’s purse after her murder.
Mrs Crown’s niece, Judith Payne, had said to officers that her aunt would often carry cash in her purse.
A receipt from Tesco showed that Mrs Crown had taken out £40 cashback when out shopping at Tesco in Wisbech. It is thought that Mrs Crown would have used this money to pay for a hair appointment the following week.
Mr Price also claimed that Newton had lied about his whereabouts on the weekend that Una Crown was murdered.
The court heard yesterday that when interviewed by police in 2013, Newton said he had spent the evening at home watching television. He said that he couldn’t afford to visit his regular social club in Wisbech to play snooker.
However, Mr Price said that CCTV from the Ex-Servicemen club in Wisbech showed Newton at the bar area on Saturday, January 12, 2013, before Una Crown was murdered. In this visit, he was seen to have one go on a fruit machine.
The CCTV also showed Newton at the club twice on Sunday, January 13, the day after the widow was murdered, and had multiple turns on the fruit machine and was seen exchanging notes behind the bar in exchange for loose change.
“It was because he could afford to go not once, but twice on Sunday after already going on Saturday,” Mr Price said.
The court observed Newton’s bank activity at the time, which also saw that he deposited £80 into his bank account on January 14, 2013.
Mr Price suggested that Newton had also lied to police on another occasion when interviewed in 2013. He had given two different recollections of the alleged only time he had entered Mrs Crown’s property.
He had claimed he had gone round to help her get a key out of the lock of her back door after she inserted the wrong key inside in the summer of 2012.
On one occasion, Newton told officers he had removed the broken part of the key and recommended she go and get another cut. Another time he claimed that he had helped get a stuck key out of the door, but two parts of the key were stuck in the door.
However, evidence from another of Mrs Crown’s neighbours, Derek Mason, who had been the pensioner’s point of call for jobs that needed doing around her home, said that he had helped Mrs Crown get a key out of the door, but a piece had been left stuck inside of it.
Evidence from Newton’s wife, who died in 2018, suggested that Newton had taken the key to Mrs Crown’s door to be cut for her when he assisted her.
It is uncertain if Newton had done this, or how many copies of the key he had cut. Newton denied getting a key cut to Mrs Crown’s back door.
Mr Price also mentioned Newton’s call history on the weekend of Mrs Crown’s murder.
He had called his elderly sister and aunt, asking them both if he could come over. They both refused.
Newton’s aunt said he sounded drunk on the phone, and said that while on the phone, she complained of some elbow pain.
Newton suggested he had some massage oil and could come over and help his aunt. She found this inappropriate and refused his offer.
His sister said that Newton was “p****d” on the phone to her and was crying. She told him to go to bed.
The jury was also shown several photographs of Mrs Crown’s home, which were examined in detail.
The court heard that Mrs Crown had been known for keeping her house in a tidy manner and would not often invite guests into her home.
A picture of Mrs Crown’s dining room was shown to the jury. There were plates and cutlery set out in a “scruffy fashion” for two people.
Mr Price observed that this would be unusual, as Mrs Crown had spoken to her elderly neighbour earlier in the day, stating she had already eaten her “tea”.
Evidence from Mrs Crown’s family suggested that she didn’t entertain people often, with her niece’s husband having only entered the dining room twice in the decades they had known each other.
Mr Price explained that five fingernail clippings were taken from Mrs Crown’s right hand when she was found.
In 2013, two of them had been tested to see if anybody’s DNA was on them, saving the other three clippings.
In 2023, it was decided that all five were to be tested and it was then that DNA matching Newton’s was discovered.
A statement was read out in court from Mrs Crown’s nephew John Payne, who found her dead. He said that when he last saw Una alive on the Friday before she was killed, she was her usual self.
He had taken her out shopping with his wife Judith, and Una was “chatty and put the world to rights”.
Mr Payne described his aunt as someone who “wasn’t afraid to speak her mind” and always expressed her thanks to him and his wife for the help she received from them.
More evidence is due to be heard this week against Newton.
The trial continues.