Christopher Halliwell has pleaded not guilty to murdering 20-year-old Becky Godden and is defending himself at Bristol Crown Court.
During the opening of the trial, the jury was told the victim went missing in January 2003, but nothing was heard from her until her body was found “in a clandestine grave in a field in the middle of nowhere” in March 2011.
It was then that Halliwell told police he had “taken a girl from Swindon, had sex with her and then strangled her”, before showing officers the site.
He is accused of murdering Miss Godden between January 2003 and April 2008.
Prosecutor Nicholas Haggan QC told the jury: “You might conclude that it was plain Rebecca was murdered… but secondly, this defendant, Christopher Halliwell, confessed to the police that between 2003 and 2005, he couldn’t be sure of the date, he had taken a girl from the streets of Swindon.
“He told the police he had sex with her and then he killed her by strangling her. He told the police he stripped the girl of her clothes and concealed her naked body.
“Not only that, but the defendant took the police to the location.”
It was not possible to determine the cause of death as Miss Godden’s remains had become “completely skeletonised,” the court was told.
Relatives including her mother, Karen Edwards, and father, John Godden, sat in the public gallery for the opening of the case.
The young woman’s mother wept in court as the circumstances of her life and death were explained to the jury.
Miss Godden had become addicted to class A drugs and was a sex worker, the court was told.
Halliwell is already serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of Sian O’Callaghan, a woman who disappeared after a night out with friends at the Suju nightclub in Swindon in March 2011, the court heard.
Her body was discovered buried semi-naked in a rural location.
“It was concealed by undergrowth in a remote location, not a great distance from the field where Rebecca’s body had been buried,” Mr Haggan told the jury.
The court heard that when Halliwell was taken to the location where he had dumped Miss O’Callaghan’s body, he told a detective: “I’m a sick f****r, is it too late to get help?”
After a pause, he continued: “Another one…forgive me”.
Earlier, jurors heard details of the “last reliable sighting” of Miss Godden outside a nightclub in Swindon town centre in January 2003.
The court was told she got into taxi despite having an argument with the driver.
“After that, nothing more was heard from her,” Mr Haggan told the court.
“She quite literally disappeared. She was just 20 years old.”
The prosecution told the jury Halliwell had used sex workers and had been a client of Miss Godden.
A friend of hers said he had been one of her regulars, the court was told.
The trial continues.
[Source:-Sky News]
