6/5/2008

Local News in Fleet

Jury watches ‘grim murder’ on CCTV film

A barman beat his fiancee with a stool in a “grim and sinister” attack before killing  her, a court heard this week.

Licensee Julie Butler was then kissed on the lips by her fiancee as she lay dead in her pub’s toilet, a jury heard.

David Kirsch had dragged the grandmother’s body from the floor of the Imperial Standard in Western Road, Aldershot, to the toilets after strangling her, it was alleged.

He had punched her in the face as she lay unconscious, and beat her with a bar stool during a 21-minute ordeal, prosecutor Janice Brennan said.

Jurors at Winchester Crown Court were shown distressing CCTV coverage of the alleged attack, which is said to have begun at 12.30am on October 8 last year.

The footage included images of the pub licensee with her face covered by a T-shirt. The jury watched the material rise and fall with her breath before it stopped when she died.

Miss Brennan warned the jury of nine women and three men on Tuesday that they would see “murder played out before your eyes”.

They were told that 42-year-old Kirsch changed the woman “who he loved” into clean clothes and placed beer cloths over her battered face in between planting kisses on her cold lips as she lay dead.

The 49-year-old suffered multiple injuries from the sustained attack, Miss Brennan said. These included her gums being torn away from the bone, zig-zag patterned neck bruising and a blunt cut to the back of the head which exposed her skull, the court heard.

Giving evidence, pathologist Deborah Cook said Miss Butler sustained “boggy bruising to both sides of her head” and two fractures to her larynx, an injury usually associated with strangulation.

She added that Miss Butler had grip-mark bruising on her arms “which indicate that she was trying to fend off an attack”, a black eye and blood spots in the whites of her eyes, another common feature for people who have been strangled.

The film showed Kirsch straddling his unconscious lover before seizing a wooden bar stool, crashing it down on her head two times and punching her twice.

He then stripped to the waist and placed his green T-shirt over her face before turning off the pub’s lights. The footage showed Miss Butler’s chest rise and fall as she breathed for ten minutes before Kirsch returned “to finish off the job”, Miss Brennan said, by putting his hand over her T-shirt-clad mouth.

The jury saw Kirsch and Miss Butler chat with customers over a four-hour period. He had consumed six Jack Daniel’s whiskeys and four pints of Kronenbourg beer during the course of the day, Miss Brennan said.

Footage showed Miss Butler lock the pub’s doors at around 12.25am before pointing to her partner of 15 months  and saying “get out”, Miss Brennan told the jury.

She explained that Miss Butler had become agitated at Kirsch’s apparent flirtation with a customer called Vivienne during the evening and that he had tried to “goad her into an argument” all evening.

Kirsch visited two Aldershot pubs for drinks and a betting shop later on October 8, after a sleep that “failed to awaken him from his nightmare”, Miss Brennan said.

“People had become concerned as to why the pub had not been open from October 8 to 10,” she added.

“They could not understand why Julie Butler did not answer her telephone.”

Miss Brennan said that on October 10 two staff from the pub’s brewery “revealed the dreadful truth” on a visit after thinking that Mrs Butler had made off with the takings, having been unable to get in contact.

“When they entered through an open window they discovered spilt drinks and broken glasses on the floor,” she added.

As they explored the pub’s interior they discovered several notes written by Kirsch, Miss Brennan said. Information on the notes included contact details for Charlotte, Miss Butler’s daughter.

One read: “Julie, I always love you. You give me warmth and affection.”

Another said: “I do not know what happened today. I love you so much.”

The men then came across “the sinister and grim discovery”, the court heard.

Miss Brennan said: “The sight of her body and of her face is something that they will never forget. They left the pub and telephoned the police. They were left shocked and stunned.

“Police knew the identity of the main suspect but he was not present at the time of the discovery of the body.

“At 7.05pm on October 10 police received a call from Kirsch, who said he was in London and that he would cut his own throat with a Stanley knife he had bought.

“He started to rant that he wanted his organs donated so that something positive could come out of a negative situation.”

The court heard how Kirsch was spotted by a passer-by approaching the pub holding the knife to his own throat.

“Police tackled him to the ground and arrested him near the pub,” Miss Brennan explained.

Police discovered two ripped-out hard drives with the CCTV coverage on in a recycling bin at a property in Alexandra Road, Aldershot, at around 1.30pm on October 12, the court was told.

Kirsch, of Western Road, denies murdering Julie Butler.

The trial continues.

First printed in: The News and Mail Series