Stephen Garner, 31, has been found guilty of murdering Amber O'Brien, 33, who was nine weeks pregnant with his twins, at his flat in Blackley, north Manchester.
Garner killed Ms O'Brien in the early hours of April 18 after the pair had an argument, jurors at Manchester Crown Court were told. He then left her body on the bathroom floor of his eighth floor flat before later confessing to a relative who called police.
Details of the attack
When officers arrived they found Ms O'Brien naked, 'cold to the touch', and covered in a blue tarpaulin lying in 'pools of water'.
Prosecuting, Nigel Power KC said: "She had been stabbed repeatedly in the neck and face. The pathologist recorded more than 60 separate stab, incised and puncture wounds, 32, of them to her face and neck."
Mr Power said of Garner: "He then spent the next day and a half stripping her, washing her body, bleaching his flat, bagging up her bloodstained clothing, destroying her telephone and getting rid of his own, before the truth caught up with him."
Relationship background
The trial was told that the pair had been in a relationship for about three months prior to Ms O'Brien's death. Ms O'Brien told her brother she and Garner 'argued a lot over silly things', and that she was 'unhappy about his mood swings', jurors were told. The court heard that two weeks before her death, she told her sibling of Garner: "Something ain't fitting with me."
There was also said to have been a 'running dispute' over Ms O'Brien's flat in Middleton. Jurors were told Garner wanted her to give it up and move in with him, but that she felt 'pressured'. She did move into the flat in Blackley three weeks prior to her death.
Mr Power said the 'friction was not all one way' in the relationship and Ms O'Brien could be heard threatening Garner on an audio recording.
Aftermath and conviction
Garner later told a relative that he had been 'cleaning up' the bathroom after buying bleach and scouring sponges from Poundland. Police forced their way into the flat just after 6pm the following day, after Garner told his cousin that he'd 'stabbed her in the neck twice'.
Garner, of Somerton Court, Blackley, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He denied murder and went on trial, but a jury found him guilty. He now faces a life sentence. He was arrested at about 7pm on April 19. When officers attended the flat they noticed an 'overpowering smell of bleach'. He was interviewed twice by police and made no comment on both occasions.
Garner told jurors that he had 'lost control' at the time of the killing. Asked why, he said: "The constant abuse throughout the relationship, whether it was verbal or physical. Second was her telling me that she had aborted my two children. I felt manipulated and betrayed. Her slashing me and trying to stab me with a knife. I snapped because of all this stuff that has happened. When you look at all these factors as a whole that's how it has made me respond."
But a jury rejected his case and found him guilty of murder. He is due to be sentenced on November 26.
Senior Investigating Officer Duncan Thorpe, from GMP's Serious Crime Division, said: "Firstly, it is my hope that today's result provides Amber's family with a sense of justice and closure, through what has been an incredibly difficult time. I'd like to thank them for their continued support and strength, from the early stages of the investigation, through the court proceedings and ultimately to today's conviction. The courage and dignity they've shown throughout this trial is no small feat."
Jo White, Senior Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Stephan Garner subjected Amber O'Brien to a sustained attack before taking deliberate steps to cover his tracks. Garner denied intending to kill Amber or cause her serious harm, but the prosecution presented clear evidence of the horrific circumstances of the attack and his calculated actions afterwards, and the jury found him guilty of murder. Amber was murdered by her partner in a place where she should have felt safe. Our thoughts remain with her family and loved ones as they continue to come to terms with her devastating death."
