A “callous” heroin user admitted murdering three people in five days, including a pregnant woman he killed before allegedly discussing the baby with the expectant father, a jury heard.
Anthony Russell, who is said to have carried out a “campaign of crime” by prosecutors, has gone on trial accused of raping one of his three victims, who was five months pregnant at the time.
Russell, 39, previously pleaded guilty on Friday to the murders of 58-year-old Julie Williams and her son, David Williams, 32, at separate flats in Coventry on October 25 and October 21 2020 respectively.
He had also pleaded guilty to later murdering pregnant 31-year-old Nicole McGregor, who was found in woodland near Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on October 29 the same year.
But Russell went on trial at Warwick Crown Court on Monday accused of raping Ms McGregor before killing her.
Zoe Johnson QC, opening the case, told jurors that between October 21 and his arrest on October 30, Russell had “embarked on a campaign of crime” then lied in “callous and calculating fashion” to cover up his offences.
Hours before Ms McGregor was killed, prosecutors said she had proudly showed Russell a picture of her baby scan, after a chance meeting in Leamington on October 26, 2020.
David Jones
Giving evidence, her partner – and the expectant father – Cristopher White said that after Ms McGregor’s later disappearance, Russell had met up with him on October 27, claiming not to have seen Ms McGregor since the previous day.
Mr White and Russell then went back to her flat, he told the court.
He then claimed that Russell, who by that time had already murdered his partner, saw a framed picture of the couple’s baby scan, at the address.
Mr White said: “He held a picture, a scanned picture of my baby, and he said ‘I bet you can’t wait for it to be born’ – and he knew he had f****** killed her.”
Addressing Russell, sitting in the dock a few feet away, directly, he said: “He’s a dirty f****** wrong ‘un.”
The trial was adjourned for the day by the judge, who said it had become “impossible” for Mr White to continue giving evidence, after he verbally abused Russell’s barrister in open court, at one point telling Tyrone Smith QC to “sit down”.
Russell, of Riley Square in Coventry, has admitted three counts of murder, three counts of robbery and one charge of grievous bodily harm with intent, but denies rape, and his trial, set to last the rest of this week, continues.
