Trial hears murder accused shouted ‘I think I killed her’ before Stirling woman found dead

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A man accused of murdering his partner told a neighbour ‘I think I’ve killed her’ before she was found dead in her bedroom, a court has heard.The neighbour told a trial at the High Court in Stirling on Wednesday that he was woken up by Christopher McGowan banging on his door before making the comment.Gordon Willows said 28-year-old McGowan shouted: “Big man, waken up, I think I’ve killed her.

I think she’s deid.”He accepted the words “I think I’ve killed her” were not recorded in a statement he gave to police at the time, but he was “100 per cent sure” McGowan had said them.McGowan is alleged to have killed Claire Inglis at her flat in Cultenhove Crescent, in St Ninians.He is accused of repeatedly striking the 28-year-old on the head and body, seizing her by the neck and compressing it, burning her on the nose, ear and thumb with a lighter, striking her on the head and body with a screwdriver, and forcing a tissue down her throat.Paul Prior, 33, an electrician who lives nearby, also said he was woken up.He said he heard McGowan shouting: “Help, she’s covered in blood, she’s no breathing.”Mr Prior, formerly in the military, said he got up and went up to Claire’s flat and began CPR.

He said there was no response and he became “pretty distressed” as it felt as if he was performing CPR on a dead body.Someone else took over and he went out and tried to restrain McGowan.In an exchange captured on tape during the 999 call McGowan made, and played to the court, jurors heard Mr Prior saying to McGowan “You f****** killed her” and McGowan saying “No I never, please bro, please please please”.

Click here for more news and sport from the Stirling area. Mr Prior said McGowan had earlier told him that Claire had “fallen down the