Husband accused of killing University of Suffolk lecturer in Colchester suspected she was cheating

A man accused of murdering his university lecturer wife by stabbing her to death said he suspected she was cheating on him, a court has heard.

Ertan Ersoy had previously told a man, who, like him, was Turkish and living in Colchester in Essex, about his "difficulties with his wife".

Mahmut Bektas told Chelmsford Crown Court he did not know anyone in the area after arriving from Turkey in 2021 and was given Ersoy's contact information by an agency in London in 2021.

Mr Bektas, describing an occasion when he met Ersoy in 2021, said: "He mentioned his difficulties with his wife.

"He said that he's finding it difficult and their relationship is very tense."

Prosecutor Christopher Paxton KC asked Mr Bektas if Ersoy, 51, had raised any suspicions about his 52-year-old wife, Dr Antonella Castelvedere.

"He did mention he's suspecting his wife might be cheating on him," said Mr Bektas, who was assisted in court by a Turkish interpreter.

He said that, during their meeting, the defendant was "mainly" talking about his issues with his wife.

"I was telling him 'Look, I'm a therapist. Do you want to speak with me in my professional capacity as a therapist?' - because my understanding is he was seeking my help - 'Or do you just want my help as a friend?'"

He said Ersoy told him Dr Castelvedere was "constantly thinking about her previous relationships".

"He was being cross and angry to this," said Mr Bektas.

"'Why she's married with me, she's still keeping these old letters or anything to do with the previous relationships?'"

Mr Bektas said Ersoy told him he "checked her emails" and "there was an individual from a previous relationship talking about he cannot forget about her".

Mr Bektas said the defendant also "said a couple of times Antonella hit him".

Asked by Mr Paxton if Ersoy had said how she hit him, Mr Bektas replied: "I'm not quite sure, but I think he mentioned about throwing some items at him."

He said he met Dr Castelvedere in March 2022 and she said she was "not happy".

"As a question I asked her 'Do you love him or not?' and she said 'Yes, I do, but I'm unhappy'," said Mr Bektas.

He said Ersoy later asked about their meeting, and Mr Bektas told him they "both need to see a therapist and you can have couple's therapy as well or you can select for one-to-one therapy".

Dr Castelvedere wrote to Mr Bektas on May 31, in a message read to the court by the prosecutor.

She said: "Ertan has fallen back into a dark state of mind and I fear for my safety."

In his reply, Mr Bektas said he had offered to put Ersoy in touch with a psychotherapist and he "hoped this time he will start to take professional help".

Ignazia Posadinu, a senior lecturer at Essex University, told the court she met Dr Castelvedere when she was studying for her PhD and they became friends, adding she was "at least 10 years older" than Dr Castelvedere and also from Italy.

She said she was "probably the only person (Dr Castelvedere) would open up" to.

She said Dr Castelvedere had a relationship with another PhD student while at Essex University and when that relationship ended it took her "at least two or three years to recover".

She said Dr Castelvedere then met Ersoy online and they married within "three months or so of knowing each other".

She said that, around six months before her death, Dr Castelvedere asked to meet.

"She told me she had been living in hell for a year and a half," said Ms Posadinu. "She said it had been a very terrible situation."

She said Dr Castelvedere told her Ersoy "was drinking and smoking" and "was getting frustrated with work and sometimes he would be verbally violent and also smash things around".

Asked by the prosecutor if she suspected Ersoy hit Dr Castelvedere, she said: "No, I asked her."

"She said he would get obsessed with things and then she told me about this instance when she was trying to find photos for a friends' reunion," she said.

"She was in a rush and left the box with various memories from the past on the table and she went out to meet her friends.

"Apparently Ertan had gone through the box and found all the photos of her ex-boyfriend and a lock of hair and he got angry.

"When she came back from that day there was no making him understand the past is the past and nothing more."

She said he called Dr Castelvedere "all sorts of names".

"He expected her to kneel down to ask for his forgiveness for having been an immoral woman and all sorts of things that didn't make much sense," said Ms Posadinu, adding: "Otherwise he would divorce her - he also told me the same things, I thought she was joking."

Dr Castelvedere was found stabbed to death on the kitchen floor of the couple's home in Colchester on June 1 last year.

Dr Castelvedere was a lecturer at the University of Suffolk, teaching an MA course in English and creative writing, and Ersoy also worked as a lecturer.

Ersoy denies murder but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

The trial continues.