Dad ‘texted pal “I’m a psychopath” and talked about “disposing of something” in burning barrel after killing two women’
A DAD texted a friend calling himself a psychopath and talked about “disposing of something” in a burning barrel after killing two women, a court heard.
Mark Brown, 41, also allegedly wrote: “Things I have done weigh heavily on my heart, in my head, my soul.”
He is accused of murdering Alex Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware, 33. He also allegedly burned one of them.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC told the court today Mark Brown, 41, met Alex Morgan, 34, through her work as an escort on Adultwork.com and had arranged a meet-up on the morning of November 14 last year, when she went missing.
She was seen arriving at Little Bridge Farm in Hastings, East Sussex - which Brown rented - at 7.58am in her white Mini Cooper, following a gold Jaguar owned by her alleged killer up a track into the site.
Alex did not leave the site but Brown left that afternoon in his Jag, it was said.
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He returned in a white work van shortly after 10pm and then left in Alex's Mini at around 12.35am - returning an hour later and then leaving again in his van, it is claimed.
Days later he text a pal asking for help to move the Mini and it was discovered in a residential street with false plates, it is said.
Brown was arrested on suspicion of Alex's murder on November 25 and five days later detectives discovered a burnt-out oil drum with teeth inside in a skip at a building site in Sevenoaks, Kent, where Brown had been working, the court heard.
Bone fragments were also found in the drum. Hair straighteners and jewellery belonging to Alex were discovered in the skip where he ditched the oil drum.
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The teeth were later proved to match Alex's dental records.
The court was told Brown admits he was with Alex when she died but that it was an accident.
Referencing a text Brown sent to friend Elizabeth Howard, Mr Atkinson said: "He said this: 'I am going to be very careful how I word this, but it happened again while disposing of something.
"It's a very unpleasant thing to do - old oil drum, five litres of diesel, and hey Presto, nothing much left. It gets hot. Very hot. Glows almost white.
"Things I have done weigh heavily on my heart, in my head and soul. A psychopath with a conscience, it's a joke really."
Jurors heard during the police investigation, medication for mum-of-three Leah Ware, 33, was found in the back of his Peugeot work van.
Leah had been missing since May last year and had not been in contact with her family.
It emerged she and Brown had been in a relationship in 2018 after he met her on Adultwork.com that March, and the pair lived together for a number of months afterwards.
Mr Atkinson said she was living inside a shipping container in a barn at Little Bridge Farm at the time it is believed she died - though her body has never been found.
Her phone was signalled at the farm on May 7, 2021, while Brown was there, it is alleged.
Mr Atkinson said: "Leah Ware lived there with her two dogs, Lady and Duke. She reported to friends that he had become increasingly controlling of her movements and behaviour."
He said Brown rehomed animal lover Leah's Mastiff Duke, giving her to his sister, and "skeletal remains" of bones matching a Pomeranian, like Lady, were found attached to a lead with a dumbbell hooked to it in a lake on the farm's grounds.
The grim discovery was made after cops drained the lake.
Leah had previously given Brown permission to collect her medication, and he continued to do so after she died, jurors heard.
He also withdrew money from her bank account. He gave Duke to his sister on May 8.
Mr Atkinson said Brown also began giving differing accounts of what happened to Leah - telling neighbours she was in a mental hospital, while claiming to other friends she had committed suicide or "passed away due to mental health problems".
Mr Atkinson said: "The prosecution suggests these accounts were part of a false trail led by the defendant."
He added that Brown would refer to Leah in the past tense when talking about her to a pal.
The court heard Elizabeth Howard was an old school friend who Brown had reconnected with online last year.
He showed her pictures of Leah and spoke of her in the past tense.
Ms Howard said Leah was "stunning" and Brown replied: "She was... and will always live on in my heart. She has peace now."
Brown told her he had been having an affair with Leah and that she miscarried his baby at seven months. He said they were together for four years and that their relationship was "very complicated".
Mr Atkinson said an oil barrel used for a "significant" fire had been found on the farm close to the barn Leah was last thought to be alive.
He then referenced Brown's text to Ms Howard, sent on June 13 last year, in which he detailed burning an oil drum with diesel.
The court heard Brown re-subscribed to Adultwork.com after Leah's disappearance and that he was speaking to a number of other women online.
He also later registered to other websites under the pseudonym "Fistymcrapist";.
Little Bridge Farm was a “set of sheds and containers used as a workshop and lockup”, where Brown would let pals park their vans and lorries.
Last March, one friend found Leah locked inside a shed at the farm - with Leah later texting him: "Mark locks me in."
Jurors also heard Leah told pals Brown used a gag on her during sex, and that he wanted to take pictures of her in the boot of a car.
In texts she sent to Brown - who also wanted to photograph her tied up and gagged - Leah told him she loved him.
Brown began contacting Alex at the end of May and sent a picture of her to Ms Howard on June 28 saying: "That's my friend Alex. I didn't do anything and could of (sic)."
He had also taken pictures of a Shell garage near her home.
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Hove crown court was told Brown, in the dock wearing a navy suit jacket, tie and jeans, was "persistently unfaithful" to his long-term partner Lisa Clark.
The dad denies two counts of murder.