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A builder accused of murdering two prostitutes on his remote farm said he told people one of his alleged victims had ‘taken her own life’ so he could avoid talking about her, a court has heard.
Mark Brown, 41, of St Leonards, East Sussex, denies murdering Alexandra Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware, 33, six months apart.
The charred remains of Ms Morgan were found in a skip at a building site where Brown was working in Sevenoaks, Kent in November 2021.
Ms Ware – who was living in a shipping container at Little Bridge Farm – has not been seen since May of that year.
The defence case of the trial got under way at Hove Crown Court today, with Brown taking the stand for the first time.
When questioned by defence barrister Ian Henderson KC, Brown said he did not kill Ms Ware, orally rape her or ‘harm a hair on her head’.
Mark Brown, 41, of Squirrel Close in St Leonards, East Sussex, denies murdering Alexandra Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware, 33, six months apart
He also denied being controlling towards her and said he did not know where Ms Ware is.
Brown accepted he had given differing accounts to different people as to where Ms Ware was after the prosecution allege he killed her in May 2021.
While giving evidence, Brown said his on again-off again relationship with Ms Ware was ‘off’ throughout most of 2021.
He told two friends Ms Ware had been sectioned and was in Woodlands, a mental health facility, and told others that she was ‘no longer with us’.
When asked by Mr Henderson why he used the phrase ‘no longer with us’ if he believed Ms Ware is alive, Brown said: ‘I think they presumed it was a suicide and I didn’t want to talk about it. I’m not very good with my emotions. I used the phrase so people wouldn’t keep asking questions.
‘I wanted to speak to someone and it was just an easier way of speaking, without all the other stuff like the drug abuse.’
Brown spoke of Ms Ware’s drug habits, as she was a regular user of marijuana, crack cocaine and heroin. He said he had bought her marijuana a few times but only purchased cocaine and heroin for her once.
At this point Brown broke down crying in the stand and said this happened ‘on the day we lost the baby’ – referring to a termination Ms Ware went through with on February 21 2020.
Brown and Ware took the cocaine and heroin together on that date ‘for the pain’.
Brown also said he noticed Lady, Ms Ware’s Pomeranian dog, had gone missing on either April 4 or 5. When he asked where she was, Ms Ware said ‘she had probably run off into the woods or gone after a rabbit’.
The next day, Brown visited Little Bridge Farm but could not find Ms Ware or Lady.
He found her other dog, Duke, fed him, and then decided to take him for a walk around the farm. While on the walk, he found something floating in the lake on the farm.
Giving evidence, Brown said: ‘There were cut down tree branches in the water and what looked like Lady was on top of the branches floating in the lake.
‘I got a rake to try and pull Lady out of the water and she came up with a chain around her neck and a 12kg weight tied to it.
‘Duke was all over it so I took him back inside then went back to see if I could find Leah.
‘I found her and I said ‘you’re f****** sick, you’ve lost it, I can’t cope with this shit when you’re like this’, then I got in the car and drove off. Leah didn’t say anything or really react.’
Ms Ware – who was living in a shipping container at Little Bridge Farm – has not been seen since May of 2021
The charred remains of Ms Morgan were found in a skip at a building site where Brown was working in Sevenoaks, Kent in November 2021
Earlier in the case, the court heard how Elizabeth Howard, a mother-of-two, visited the farm with her daughters in July 2021, two months after Ms Ware was last seen alive.
The 40-year-old had known the defendant from their time at school together and told a jury how he got in touch via Facebook and had hinted he was interested in a relationship.
Giving evidence from behind screens, Mrs Howard said she had been in constant contact with Brown over WhatsApp for more than two months after his initial Facebook message.
He showered her and her daughters with gifts including a Smart TV and two sacks of toys, as well as a Black Widow costume made famous by Scarlett Johansson after Mrs Howard told him she was a Marvel fan.
Duncan Atkinson KC for the Crown told the jury there were 700 pages of WhatsApp messages between them, in which he always spoke about Ms Ware in the past tense, Mrs Howard said.
Describing their time at school together in Hastings, Mrs Howard said: ‘He would bunk off quite a lot. Mark was very insular. He was a very private person. He kept very much to himself and would often be seen on his own.’
Mrs Howard said Brown visited her at home for dinner with her daughters and then went to Little Bridge Farm on July 10.
They stayed for nearly two hours and sheltered from the rain in the barn where Brown had a shipping container.
He described Ms Ware as a traveller who was now at peace and told Mrs Howard she was a big loss to the world.
Police investigating the deaths of Alexandra Morgan and Leah Ware, who Mark Brown is accused of murdering
‘She was a traveller, gypsy, old school and I celebrated her life they way they do,’ he said.
‘I only smile when I think of her. If anything, I learnt a lot about love from her. I’m just me and won’t be made to change.’
In another message he told Mrs Howard: ‘It’s nice to feel I’m not a wolf in a field of sheep. Only two people have made me feel that.’
Mrs Howard said: ‘Mark had spoken to me many times saying how he felt about me. We remained friends only. He hinted at a relationship that’s why I said ‘You already have a person’.’
He wrote in reply: ‘I know some things are a burden on another person. I couldn’t and wouldn’t ever lie to you. It’s things I can live with but might not be things you could.’
The court also heard how in one message, Brown wrote: ‘I wasn’t always nice. It’s a constant fight to be me.
‘I would kill to protect the girls and you. I would never tell you wrongly. I would have to tell you the bad things. The things I’ve done for love, justice, respect.’
Brown also told Mrs Howard he believed she is an angel who saved his life in a road accident.
He told her: ‘You saved me back in the day. The night I died, I saw you. The night I went under that artic [sic], I saw you.’
The trial continues.
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