A North East man accused of murdering his stepdaughter downloaded hundreds of sexual images of her in the weeks leading up to her death, a court has heard. Nathan Owens, 34, from Hartlepool, is accused of attacking 19-year-old Carla Georgescu with a sharp object and strangling her at her university halls of residence in Preston.
Discovery of Carla Georgescu
Carla was discovered suspended from a wardrobe by a belt after her mother contacted campus security when she was unable to reach her on her 20th birthday, February 5, 2026. Owens visited her at 4.30am on February 4, and is said by the prosecution to have been the last person to see her alive.
Owens, of Hopps Street, Hartlepool, denies murder, GBH and strangulation and is on trial at Preston Crown Court. Prosecutors allege he killed her as the culmination of a sexual obsession - potentially driven by jealousy upon discovering she intended to meet her online boyfriend in Romania for the first time.
Digital evidence presented
The jury heard evidence from Dominic Kirby, a police digital media investigator, who examined Owens' laptop following Carla's death on February 5, 2026. Lancs Live reports how he found that 14,417 still and moving images had been transferred to the HP device between January 23 and 24 — a fortnight before Carla died.
The court heard that the majority of the images were pornographic in nature and depicted adult females. Among the evidence were hundreds of covert photographs taken of Carla at the family home, in which she was dressed in underwear or short pyjamas.
Covert images and manipulation
The jury was shown a selection of images that the prosecution claims were captured by Owens as he sat on the sofa, unbeknownst to Carla. The images depict her carrying out everyday household tasks such as emptying bins or folding laundry, while dressed in knickers and vest tops, or pyjamas.
Nicholas Lumley KC said: "It is the prosecution case that Carla had no idea these were being taken. There are a number of covert images taken by the defendant and some of them had been viewed in the days leading up to his visit to Preston."
The prosecution also alleges that Owens manipulated pornographic images by superimposing Carla's face onto explicit photographs of naked women. Mr Lumley said: "Time and again, Carla's face is superimposed onto pornographic images."
Further allegations and trial continues
Additionally, a video and 30 screenshots allegedly showed Owens engaging in a sex act with an effigy dressed in Carla's clothing. The effigy's head was an anime doll belonging to Carla, which Owens was seen with in a series of still images.
The jury was also shown a photograph of Owens wearing Carla's nightie, which the prosecution contends he viewed prior to visiting the student in the early hours of February 4, 2026. The trial continues.
