A man has today (5th July) been convicted of the murder and manslaughter of two partners, after claiming that each of them had died in their sleep, with him waking up next to them.
Robert Trigg, 52, from Worthing, was found guilty at Lewes Crown Court of the murder of Susan Nicholson, aged 52, in 2011 and the manslaughter of Caroline Devlin, who was 35, in March 2006.
Both women had been in a relationship with the defendant and their deaths were initially treated as being due to natural causes.
Nigel Pilkington from the CPS said:
“This was an extremely unusual case and required us to put together a compelling case in the face of initial pathology results that suggested the victims had died of natural causes. With the benefit of the wider picture, the pathologist was able to reconsider what else could have happened on the night each victim died, with the results telling a very different story.
“Aside from the new post mortem results, the prosecution case also relied on the striking similarities between the two deaths, as both victims were found in an unusual position and, in each case, Trigg failed to call the emergency services, getting other people to do it for him instead. His accounts then raised far more questions than they answered.
“Bad character evidence, including incidents which took place the deaths of both Caroline and Susan, also supported our case as it helped to build a picture man with a history of violence and controlling behaviour towards his partners.
“In the face of this, it was extremely unlikely that two of Trigg’s partners had each died of natural causes while sharing a bed with him, and today he has been brought to justice for both deaths.”
--Ends--
Notes to Editors:
- Nigel Pilkington is the Head of the Complex Casework Unit in CPS South East.
