Shooting victim 'remained calm'

Rena Salmon denies murder

A beauty salon owner remained calm as she stared into a shotgun moments before she was shot dead by her love rival, a jury has heard.

Jilted wife Rena Salmon, 43, confronted Lorna Stewart in her salon in Chiswick, west London after learning of her affair with her husband, the Old Bailey was told.

Ms Stewart greeted Mrs Salmon by saying: "So you have come to shoot me?", eyewitness Lindsey Rees told the court.

Miss Rees was working as a book keeper for the salon in Chiswick, west London, and was in the office when Ms Stewart, 36, was shot.

Mrs Salmon, from Great Shefford, near Hungerford in Berkshire, denies murdering Ms Stewart on 10 September 2002.

Miss Rees told the jury: "I was writing a cheque and I heard Lorna say: 'Hello Rena'.

"I saw someone in the doorway. Then I heard Lorna say 'So you have come to shoot me?'.

She was very angry. She felt Paul was getting everything and she was not getting anything

Witness Leonie Griffin

"She said `Yes'.

"Then she shot Lorna.

"It was a very controlled conversation. Neither were hysterical.

"Rena had no emotion on her face or inflection in her voice."

Miss Rees said she ran from the scene and heard a second shot.

The court also heard from the defendant's friend, Leonie Griffin, who said Mrs Salmon admitted the shooting in a phone call.

"She was very angry. She felt Paul was getting everything and she was not getting anything," she said.

'You are fat, ugly and boring'

She told the court Ms Stewart told Mrs Salmon she was having the affair: "Because I can, because you are fat, you are ugly and you are boring."

Another witness, Christine Chmielenski, said she had seen the defendant the day before the shooting when she was taking her children to school.

She said Salmon told her that "Paul and Lorna were arranging a marriage blessing and were trying for a baby. She appeared upset."

The jury was also told that Mrs Salmon had sent numerous text messages to Ms Stewart threatening to kill her.

The trial continues.