Found Deceased UK - Samantha Eastwood, 28, Stoke-on-Trent, 27 July 2018 *Arrest*

[truthfinder34]

with regards to the vulnerable missing person status - would this be the case if SE was pregnant or just because she had received threats?

 

[Jennifer17]

Highlight please where I have blamed SE for her own murder.

Pushed him to his limits. Assuming she was having an affair with him.

 

[Maxo]

Pushed him to his limits. Assuming she was having an affair with him.

Read my post again “Something” pushed him to his limit. Not her.

Other posters have put forward the possibility of an affair. It would have been the first line of Enquiry undertaken by the police.

I’ve reported your post.

 

[Insp.Dots]

Thanks for the updates Alyce

I feel so sorry for SE’s family & friends but also KS & her family.
I wonder if there could have been some threat of blackmail from MS to KP that would have forced her to end her relationship with JP or perhaps the Summer House had been agreed when they were together and JP pushed for this to be completed for SE. Then perhaps MS developed an unhealthy obsession with SE, then threatened her if she told on him.
SE has been shown to be a very nice, kind & caring girl. I don’t see an affair. She wouldn’t have wanted JP or KS to be hurt but was struggling to find a way to end it the situation but MS just kept pushing!
Did I read somewhere he had previous for a sexual assault? Or was that gossip?
I had hope he would at least plead guilty today of being ‘responsible’ for her death if nothing else but I suspect he thinks he can talk his way out of it all.
Total respect to SE’s Family & Colleagues for their dignity in such horrible times!

 

[MelmothTheLost]

If strangulation was the cause of death they should be able to prove intent right? Strangulation takes time ... several minutes where he could have let go but didn't.

In cases of manual strangulation, the hyoid bone is almost always fractured and is a giveaway for the cause of death. Manual strangulation also usually means there's a personal relationship between killer and victim, ie it's not a method typically used by a stranger such as a burglar.

 

[Yozzer]

Comment from one of SE's long term friends: Daily Mail 4th August

Why DID missing midwife call off her own wedding? | Daily Mail Online

This week a close friend of Samantha’s, Nicola Brennan, a 34-year-old fellow midwife, told the Mail it was Samantha who had ended the relationship, but said she kept her reasons to herself.
Nicola says: ‘I know it was her decision. She will tell people it was mutual but it came from her. I know they had a very emotional conversation, but there were no big issues as far as I know. ‘Samantha delivered my baby for me. We became very close when we were training to be midwives, and she helped me even though she was off duty at the time.
‘My husband and I have been out with her and John and we really liked him. They had been together a long time, at least seven years, but they split up in January.
‘As far as I know there has been virtually no contact between them since. I don’t think she has met anyone else.’

When Samantha failed to turn up for work later that day, she was reported missing by her colleagues. It was so out of character, they say. Samantha, everyone agrees, is the most straightforward, dependable person you could hope to meet.

Nicola Brennan was among a group of colleagues who went to Samantha’s house to try to find her. She says John Peake, her ex-fiancé, was among those at the scene. They went to the house so quickly because Samantha simply isn’t the sort to go off alone without telling anyone — and her dedication to her work means she would never not bother to turn up without informing her colleagues. To Samantha, midwifery is a true vocation.

 

[Cherwell]

Re premeditation.
This has come up in other cases and we should bear in mind that "premeditated" does not necessarily mean "pre-planned". An offence doesn't need to have been planned for any length of time to be premeditated. It means that there was clear intent at the time.

 

[truthfinder34]

I also feel sorry for ks - her picture has been shown all over the media.

It could be possible MS became infatuated with SE. If someone close to me was completing work in my garden I would provide them with a key so they could make drinks use the toilet etc. What if SE had told her friend that she suspected MS had been going through her house ( possibly had a exa key cut) this would make her feel uneasy enough to confide in a friend. This could also be how MS entered her house on the day of the murder.

Would his house be treated as a crime scene if he had gone there after the murder? or could it be SE was murdered there?

 

[Alyce]

Just having a read up on guilty pleas.
As far as I can see, the accused cannot enter a plea until they are asked to do so. And, it seems that the first time the accused is asked is at the PTPH ( pre trial preparation hearing ) which in this case will be October.
A guilty plea at that point will allow a reduction in sentence of possibly one third.

JMO but I dont see this defendant pleading guilty at any stage.

 

[Legally Bland]

Re premeditation.
This has come up in other cases and we should bear in mind that "premeditated" does not necessarily mean "pre-planned". An offence doesn't need to have been planned for any length of time to be premeditated. It means that there was clear intent at the time.

Just to add to this, the intent doesn't need to be murder, the intent needs to be a minimum of causing grievous bodily harm which results in death.

Thanks for the updates, Alyce.

 

[Sarahlou]

From sky news:

A court has heard the body of midwife Samantha Eastwood who was missing for eight days was found wrapped in a duvet cover with tape around her eyes and face in a rural area near Caverswall in Staffordshire

 

[Armchair_Defective]

In cases of manual strangulation, the hyoid bone is almost always fractured and is a giveaway for the cause of death. Manual strangulation also usually means there's a personal relationship between killer and victim, ie it's not a method typically used by a stranger such as a burglar.

I agree, it seems they had a relationship or at least he thought they did. Strangling does seem emotionally involved. I would also like to say that not everyone that has an affair meets the stereotype people might have of someone extrovert, rash, voracious or whatever. Something small could have happened between them in an intense or drunken moment, It could be that he wanted to take it further and she didn't.

 

[cotswoldemmie]

Midwife Samantha Eastwood 'found in shallow grave with eyes taped' Midwife Samantha Eastwood 'found in shallow grave with eyes taped'

 

[Armchair_Defective]

From sky news:

A court has heard the body of midwife Samantha Eastwood who was missing for eight days was found wrapped in a duvet cover with tape around her eyes and face in a rural area near Caverswall in Staffordshire

That's awful. It implies he restrained he at some point...or that he felt the need to cover her face afterwards.

 

[Alyce]

Early guilty pleas 'to be encouraged'

 

[Legally Bland]

From sky news:

A court has heard the body of midwife Samantha Eastwood who was missing for eight days was found wrapped in a duvet cover with tape around her eyes and face in a rural area near Caverswall in Staffordshire

Tape over her eyes does seem like a kidnapping of sorts.

 

[Armchair_Defective]

Reading the article it specifies 'masking tape' which wouldn't be very good at staying on the face of a living person IMO. I'm thinking he did it afterwards as he didn't want to see her face after what he had done.

 

[Cherwell]

There is of course another possibility: that he was having an affair with someone else and Samantha knew about it.

 

[Alyce]

Midwife Samantha Eastwood 'found in shallow grave with eyes taped' Midwife Samantha Eastwood 'found in shallow grave with eyes taped'

That sounds horrific. I hope the Prosecution build the strongest case possible against this person.
Sounds like they have other good evidence with the cctv, phone and anpr.

 

[MelmothTheLost]

I agree, it seems they had a relationship or at least he thought they did. Strangling does seem emotionally involved. I would also like to say that not everyone that has an affair meets the stereotype people might have of someone extrovert, rash, voracious or whatever. Something small could have happened between them in an intense or drunken moment, It could be that he wanted to take it further and she didn't.

Agreed that there doesn't have to have been an actual relationship for MS to react as thought there was or thought there should be. Samantha calling off her marriage to her fiance could have set MS off thinking there was a chance of a relationship developing between them. And of course one shouldn't rule out a good old male sense of entitlement in the matter. If MS wanted a relationship who was she to deny him?