CCTV footage captured the moment a thug casually went for a drink at the pub after brutally murdering his ex-wife.
Mark Donovan, 39, inflicted 70 separate injuries on Elise Mason, 37, in a sustained attack at the home they once shared in Chelmsford, Essex on April 25, 2023.
A trial heard how he strangled the beloved mum-of-two and battered her with a lamp because he could ‘never accept that she had moved on from their relationship.’
After killing Elise, Donovan can be seen on camera visiting his local pub The Blue Lion for a drink, before discarding Elise’s phone in one of the venue’s toilets.
CCTV footage shows him enjoying a drink – before he leaves and heads to two separate massage parlours.
Donovan even ordered himself a Chinese takeaway before finally heading to Ilford Police Station, where he told officers he had done ‘the worst thing’.
He was still eating his meal when he entered the police station – and is captured on CCTV eating noodles while he speaks to an officer.
On Friday (February 28), a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court found him guilty of murder. He will be sentenced on Wednesday (March 5).
Speaking in 2023, Elise’s mum said: ‘I have not only lost my daughter, but I have lost my best friend too.
‘Elise was a fantastic mother to her children and she was loved by everybody. Please respect our privacy at this time.’
The trial heard how the couple had been teenage friends before beginning a romance in 2010 and living together until their relationship fell apart in 2022.
Ms Mason had acted as a carer to Donovan who was partially sighted, epileptic and a type one diabetic, and had ensured he took his medication, jurors were told.
Prosecutor Andrew Jackson KC said Mr Donovan had ‘bombarded’ her with ‘manipulative’ texts and phone calls to try and win her back before her death.
Mr Jackson said the injuries to her body had been caused by a fist and a ‘blood-stained table lamp that was found close to her body’.
During the trial, Donovan denied murder and claimed he had been acting in self-defence after being emotionally abused and threatened with a knife by Ms Mason on the day of his attack.
Officers later found her heavily bloodstained body lying on a floor under a blanket near the front door of Donovan’s home on Rothmans Avenue in Great Baddow.
Elise had more than 70 injuries to her face, head, neck, upper body, arms and legs, and blood spots were found on the nearby walls and furniture.
Prosecutors said a love letter from her new boyfriend was found next to her body, suggesting that Donovan had flown into a ‘jealous’ rage after finding it.
Donovan’s defence team argued he had a personality disorder and was therefore only guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.
But jurors took under three hours of deliberation to find him unanimously guilty of murder after a three-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Donovan had refused to enter the dock while the judge was summing up the case and was in prison when the verdict was returned.
Judge Christopher Morgan adjourned sentencing until Wednesday, saying he wanted to give Donovan a chance to attend court again.
After Donovan’s trial, Detective Inspector James Holmes said: ‘I want to express my heartfelt sympathy to Elise’s family and in particular her two children, who have tragically been left without their mother because of Donovan’s destructive and utterly heartless actions.
‘I hope that the jury’s verdict will bring some closure for them, and they can move on with their lives to some degree.
‘Mark Donovan is clearly a dangerous, selfish and manipulative man.
‘Never content with accepting responsibility for the horrific attack he carried out against Elise, he instead decided to tell officers, medical professionals, and a jury a series of awful lies about his victim in a bid to shift the blame onto her.
‘Thankfully, due to the evidence we managed to gather, a jury saw through this despicable ploy.
‘In reality, Donovan’s warped and self-centred mind could never accept that Elise had moved on from their relationship.
‘He killed her in a fit of rage, only handing himself in after enjoying a drink at a pub, a massage and a takeaway meal.
‘That behaviour shows the kind of man he is. He can expect to spend the rest of his life where he belongs.’