A builder accused of murdering two prostitutes and burning their bodies on his remote farm called himself a 'psychopath with a conscience', a court has heard.
Mark Brown, 41, of Squirrel Close in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, is on trial accused of murdering Alexandra Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware, 33. He has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Both women, who had been working as escorts and were registered on an adult website, went missing in Hastings six months apart last year.
Hove Crown Court today heard that father-of-one Brown killed both sex workers at a remote farm and buildings he rented near Hastings and then torched their bodies.
Forensic officers later found bone fragments and teeth belonging to Miss Morgan, a mother-of-two, inside an old oil drum in a skip at a building site in Sevenoaks, Kent where Brown had been working.
The trial began at Hove Crown Court today as 12 jurors and two spares were sworn in by Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard.
The keys to Miss Morgan's car, a white Mini Cooper, were also found at the building site.
Miss Ware, a mother-of-three from Hastings, East Sussex, was last seen by a friend in the early hours of May 6 2021. She was also a sex worker operating from the same website as Miss Morgan and first met Brown as a client in March 2018.
Miss Ware, 33, from Hastings, was a mother-of-three who lived a 'chaotic' lifestyle. She did not have custody of her children and had a history of mental illness and drug use.
The court was told a close relationship developed between Brown and Miss Ware and they saw each other regularly.
He took a lease on a flat and moved Miss Ware in with money from her benefits allegedly being paid directly to him for rent.
By May 2019 she had moved to Little Bridge Farm, first in a static caravan and then in a converted shipping container inside a barn on the site, until the prosecution say she was killed on May 7 last year.
Miss Ware described to friends and family in the months before her disappearance that Brown had become more controlling of her actions and behaviours – and sometimes he locked her inside the shipping container.
Miss Ware lived at the farm with her two dogs, a Pomeranian called Lady and a Mastiff called Duke, to whom she was devoted. She also had a as well as a horse, Bertie, and some goats.
Mark Brown, 41, of Squirrel Close in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, is on trial accused of murdering Alexandra Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware (pictured), 33. He has pleaded not guilty.
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