Widow murder trial jury told evidence is a 'jigsaw'

Jurors asked to decide whether an 86-year-old widow was murdered by a man who lived nearby must complete a evidential "jigsaw", a prosecuting lawyer has told a trial.

Retired postmistress Una Crown was found dead at her bungalow in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, on 13 January 2013.

Detectives believe she was stabbed to death on the night of 12 January, the jury at Cambridge Crown Court has been told.

Widower David Newton, 70, who was charged in 2024, denies murder.

Barrister John Price KC, who is leading the prosecution legal team, suggested that jurors needed to fit pieces of evidence together when deciding whether Mr Newton was guilty.

"No-one saw who murdered Una Crown," Mr Price told the trial in a closing prosecution argument.

"David Newton has not admitted that it was he.

"He has always denied it - though without ever claiming to actually recall the events of that critical night."

The trial, which began in mid-January, has heard that Mrs Crown's body was found in the hallway of her home in Magazine Lane in the Fenland town.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Newton, of neighbouring Magazine Close, started fires at the bungalow after murdering Mrs Crown.

Jurors have been told that DNA matching Mr Newton was, in 2023, found on nail clippings taken from Mr Crown's right hand in 2013.

Mr Price KC said Mr Newton had not been charged because of DNA evidence alone.

He suggested that jurors were dealing with a "jigsaw" of evidence.

"This case is not a jigsaw for a child," he said.

"This case is an adult jigsaw.

"The individual pieces are small and there are many of them.

"It requires perseverance."

The prosecution barrister added that a "series of truly remarkable coincidences" must have occurred if the defendant was "not the person who stabbed Una Crown".

Mr Price said there was evidence from other women about Mr Newton's behaviour.

"There is a pattern of improper and intrusive behaviour directed towards single or otherwise vulnerable women," he said.

Evidence showed that he was in the area of Mrs Crown's home on the night of 12 January, said Mr Price.

Two witnesses had described him as "appearing" drunk on that night.

Mr Price told jurors that police had spoken to Mr Newton about a week after Mrs Crown died.

"He could recall nothing about events seven days earlier," said Mr Price.

Witnesses called by the prosecution finished giving evidence last week.

Mr Newton has not given evidence at the trial and his legal team has not called any witnesses for the defence.

A barrister leading Mr Newton's legal team has yet to make a closing defence argument.

The trial continues.

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