A criminology student accused of ‘butchering’ a personal trainer to death often asked questions on ‘how to get away with murder’, his lecturer told a court today.
Nasen Saadi, 20, is on trial charged with the murder of Amie Gray, 34, and the attempted murder of Leanne Miles at Durley Chine Beach in Bournemouth on May 24.
Mrs Gray was pronounced dead at the scene while Ms Miles, then aged 38, suffered 20 injuries but survived the attack after screaming ‘please stop, I’ve got children’.
Academic Lisa-Maria Reiss told the court that questions asked by Saadi during her lectures were ‘not focused’ on the topics discussed and recalled one example where he asked whether ‘police were able to trace back DNA’.
In one lecture with a police officer, Ms Reiss said the defendant ‘asked if different police departments communicated with each other, if they exchanged cases in evidence and asked how far someone would have to travel to get away with certain offences’.
The tutor told jurors she asked him ‘You’re not planning a murder are you?’ to which he told her he was just carrying out research for an article he wanted to write.
Winchester Crown Court had previously heard how two nights before the incident, Saadi had gone to see the movie The Strangers – Chapter 1, in which ‘the male and female leads are both stabbed’.
Prosecutors said this behaviour suggested ‘the defendant gravitated to what he likes to watch or sought inspiration or encouragement from what he saw’.
Ms Reiss told the court Saadi often asked ‘how often’ a self defence argument would ‘go through’ if a ‘person was attacked first’.
She said: ‘[Saadi] said can you please go back to the point you were talking about murder or self defence.
‘He was sat at the back of the room, he joined late so he stood out to me because I do know people in the class.
‘He was wearing big red headphones and removed them at the end to ask the question.
‘It was the first interaction I have ever had with him, the first time I have seen him on campus.
‘I looked around the classroom and I saw that my students were very confused at this question.
‘I said I can’t remember up that topic. From what I remember, he completely ignored that and then he asked again about if self defence and how often it would go through if a person was attacked first.’
The lecturer told jurors he would often ask questions on murder, DNA and forensics.
‘I said we have a policing lecture where someone from the police would come in and talk about the topic in more detail and he continued to ask the question,’ Ms Reiss said.
‘He asked me what DNA is left behind and if police were able to trace back DNA and I said yes they are fairly competent in that.
‘He ignored that, it was almost like he didn’t listen. I said to him, you’re not planning a murder are you?
‘He said no, he’s researching for an article he wants to write for a paper.’
Ms Reiss said that from this point, the questions became ‘more frequent’ but the ‘subject’ of them ‘changed’.
She told of a lecture with a police officer on November 20 about the ‘work life balance’ of a job in the forces.
‘The one that stood out to me was the policing lecture,’ Ms Reiss said.
‘He asked if different police departments in different area’s communicated with each other, if they exchanged cases in evidence and from what I remember, he also asked how far someone would have to travel to get away with certain offences.
‘He asked about investigations, line of enquiry and so fourth.
‘The questions were not necessarily focused on anything to do with career, anything to do with live of a police officer.
‘It was from the other side. It was DNA, how to get away with murder, these sorts of things which were very different to other questions.’
Jurors also heard today how a witness saw a nasty’ man with a ‘grimacing, frowning’ face walking away from the scene of the fatal stabbing on Bournemouth beach front.
Amateur photographer Michael Priddle told Winchester Crown Court that he had gone to the seafront that night to take photos of bird life as well as the rising full moon.
He said that he had left the seafront at about 11.40pm to walk back up to the cliff top past a Victorian shelter on his way home when he heard two loud screams from the beach area.
Mr Priddle said: ‘It did strike me as something a bit loud, it had more body to it, it had a bit more depth and there was a second scream, not quite so loud which was broken, it didn’t peter off if you know what I mean.’
He said that within three to five minutes, he saw a man wearing dark trousers and a black, hooded coat with a band of colour around the front, walking towards him.
Mr Priddle said: ‘He had a hood up, the hood was slightly over his cheek, he was in full view, he had a striking coat which was black, it had a coloured marking.’
He said that the man had ‘bum fluff’ on his face, explaining that he meant ‘unshaven hair around the lips of a young person’.
He added that he felt ‘very concerning for my own safety, he seemed not a nice person’ because of ‘his grimacing and frown’.
He continued: ‘I seriously kept an eye on him for my safety, I kept walking.’
Mr Priddle added: ‘He looked a nasty person, I also kept an eye on him when he walked past the young couple in the Victorian shelter.’
Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting, has told the jury that Mr Priddle picked Saadi’s image out of an identity parade of 10 photos three days after the fatal incident.
The court has heard that Saadi, who was a criminology student at Greenwich University, had researched defences for murder and forensic tests.
The prosecution have claimed he may have killed Ms Gray because he seemed to want ‘to know what it would be like to take life’.
Sarah Jones KC said that the defendant booked a stay at a Travelodge hotel from May 21 but also the nearby Silver How Guest house which he booked into on the 23rd.
She added that the previous evening, May 22, Saadi had gone to see the movie The Strangers – Chapter 1.
Describing the plot, she said: ‘The male and female leads are both stabbed – the male dies and the female survives. It suggests doesn’t it, that the defendant gravitated to what he likes to watch or sought inspiration or encouragement from what he saw.’
The defendant, who has pleaded guilty to failing to provide his mobile phone code to police, denies the charges and the trial continues.