Man accused of murdering fiancée told his mother 'she pushed me too far this time'
Charlie Jeans is accused of murdering mum-of-three Samantha Murphy
A man accused of murdering his fiancée admitted to his mother that he had killed her.
Charlie Jeans, 30, is on trial for the murder of mum-of-three Samantha Murphy, after her body was found at an address in Wadham Road, North End, on June 5 last year.
Jeans, from Margate Road, Southsea, has denied the charge.
But Portsmouth Crown Court heard how he phoned his mother, Carol Ward, shortly before Samantha’s body was found by her children - and told her that he had killed her. Jeans had previously sent her WhatsApp messages at 12.24am, asking if she was awake.
Giving evidence from behind a curtain, and sobbing through most of her testimony, Ms Ward said: “I was asleep in the night - I didn’t hear anything as I had my hearing aids out. [In the morning] I tried calling Sammie to see what was going on.
“Charlie phoned and asked me ‘have you heard anything’. I asked him what was going on and he said that Sammie was dead. I started screaming down the phone, and he said ‘she pushed me too far this time’.
“I just kept asking why, why, why - then he told me strangled her, and went into quite graphic detail. I didn’t want to believe it.
“Those few sentences have gone round and round in my head like a stuck record over the past year.”
As soon as her phone call with Jeans ended, Ms Ward phoned the police on 999, to say her son had killed Samantha. The phone call was played out in court.
Speaking through her tears to officers, she said: “My son just called me and said he killed his girlfriend.”
During the phone call, she left the house “in case he comes round”, and hung up on police when she thought she had spotted him.
Speaking at the end of Friday’s (June 12) hearing, Judge Adam Feest KC explained that the prosecution is coming towards the end of its evidence, which should conclude early next week. After that, Jeans’ defence barristers will put across their argument, before concluding arguments are given and the jury is retired to consider a verdict.
Proceeding