A man accused of murdering two women says he set up an account on an adult services website in order to look for one of them, a court has heard.
Mark Brown, 41, from St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex, is charged with the murders of Leah Ware, 33 and Alexandra Morgan, 34, six months apart in 2021.
Brown continued to give evidence during the trial at Hove Crown Court on Friday about his “on again-off again” relationship with Ms Ware, who he met through an adult services website.
He hired Ms Ware as an escort in 2018 but their relationship deepened and they were together on and off until, the prosecution alleges, he murdered her on May 8 2021.
I set it up to look for Leah, to see if she went back on the site— Mark Brown
When asked by defence solicitor Ian Henderson KC what happened to Ms Ware, Brown said: “I went to the farm on May 7 and when I got back to the workshop I found a note tied to the door handle in a blue plastic bag.
“It said ‘I’m sorry boo, I’m going to get this sorted and get help. Please don’t let this be the last shot. Please can you pick up meds and money for me, my card is at your sister’s, and leave it in the Bertmobile. I love you’.”
Ms Ware’s post was redirected to Brown’s sister Cheryl’s address, including a replacement bank card she had ordered a few days earlier, and the ‘Bertmobile’ was the nickname for their pet horse Bertie’s horse box.
Brown continued to pick up Ms Ware’s prescription every Monday from that date until his arrest for the murder of Ms Morgan in late November 2021. He would leave it with cash withdrawn from Ms Ware’s account in the horse box.
Brown claims the money was picked up every week, but the medication was not always taken. He never saw who took the money and any leftover medication was burned by him.
When Mr Henderson KC asked where the note from Leah went, Brown said: “At first I put it on the side in the workshop and then I threw it away.
“There was no reason why I did it, I threw away every other note, I didn’t keep them, I didn’t think it might be relevant at a later point.”
On May 20, 12 days after Brown alleges he last saw Ms Ware, he created a new account on the same adult services website he used to meet both Ms Ware and Ms Morgan.
Asked why he created a new account, Brown said: “I wanted to log into my old account to find Leah’s previous usernames, but when I couldn’t log in because of the time lapsed since the last log-in I created a new account because you can search members’ names that way.
“I set it up to look for Leah, to see if she went back on the site.”
Brown denies murdering both Ms Ware and Ms Morgan.
The trial continues.
