Triple-killer raped final victim in Warwickshire parkland hours after meeting her, court told

A triple-killer strangled and raped his final victim, who was five months pregnant, during a six-day murder spree, a court has heard.

A jury at Warwick Crown Court was told Anthony Russell has pleaded guilty to the murders of Julie Williams and her son David Williams at separate flats in Coventry, and that of 31-year-old Nicole McGregor, whose body was found in parkland near Leamington Spa.

Russell, 39, who denies a single count of rape, is said by prosecutors to have killed Mr Williams for "revenge" before strangling the victim's mother out of fear she would contact the police.

Russell, of Riley Square, Coventry, then allegedly lured Miss McGregor, who had shown him a scan of her baby, to Leamington's Newbold Comyn with the promise of drugs on October 26 2020.

Opening the Crown's case on Monday, Zoe Johnson QC said of Russell:**** "The defendant does not admit raping Nicole McGregor just moments before he strangled her to death.

"And so the sole issue for you to decide in this trial is whether you are sure that Nicole McGregor did not consent to sexual intercourse and the defendant did not reasonably believe that she had consented.

"Self-evidently, Nicole McGregor cannot testify, but we suggest that nevertheless, in spite of the lack of her personal testimony, there is a compelling case that she was raped, as well as murdered, by this defendant."

The court was told Russell travelled to Leamington Spa on October 26 and was captured on CCTV in the town at 2.46pm.

Nicole, who was begging with her partner, is then said to have told the defendant that she was pregnant, showing him a picture of her baby scan on her phone.

CCTV footage of Ms McGregor, who lived in a flat in Leamington, was played to the jury, showing her walking alongside Russell at 7.45pm.

Alleging that Russell was guilty of a continuous course of conduct which included rape, Ms Johnson said of the footage: "This is the last time Nicole is seen alive.

"Just three hours after meeting the defendant it appears that Nicole has agreed to walk with the defendant into Newbold Comyn.

"We suggest that the defendant lured Nicole onto the Comyn, not for sex but more likely for drugs.

"The defendant murdered Nicole McGregor shortly after that image was captured, just hours after they had met."

Ms Johnson told the jury: "You will have to consider whether she consented to sexual intercourse with a man she did not know, whilst five months pregnant, just moments before she was murdered."

Ms Johnson said the prosecution did not rely on the other crimes committed by Russell "to excite prejudice" but because they were "highly relevant" to the defendant's established pattern of behaviour.

She told the court: "All the previous acts of violence perpetrated by the defendant were done in order for him to get what he wanted - revenge on a man he believed had slept with his girlfriend, avoiding being reported by that man's mother to the police.

"We suggest that pattern equally applies in this case - the defendant wanted sex and got it through violence."

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