Husband 'crushed woman's skull'

Andre Genestin is accused of murdering his 38-year-old wife

A man crushed the skull of his wife as she sat on their sofa in the lounge and then hid her body in and around their house in Brighton, jurors have heard.

Andre Genestin, 48, who denies murder, then told friends and family that his wife was prone to disappearing, Lewes Crown Court was told.

The jury heard the couple's daughter repeatedly raised concerns about her mother's whereabouts with her teachers.

The decomposed remains of Catherine Genestin, 38, were found last June.

"He stored her body in and around the house, firstly in a cupboard in the lounge, then latterly in a car roof storage box in the back garden," Ms Laing told the court, prosecuting.

She said that only after the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, raised concerns did social services and police investigate.

But Mr Genestin told social services he believed his wife was in Italy having a relationship with a man she met online, jurors heard.

'Blood-stained hammer'

The court was told the couple, who lived in Maresfield Road, had a "tempestuous" relationship characterised by arguments and some domestic violence.

Neighbours started to notice a strange smell from Mr Genestin's back garden, and flies swarming around the car roof box, while one resident discovered blood, jurors were told.

But neighbours convinced themselves the box held dead fish, and the matter went unreported, they heard.

In June, police prised open the box to find the woman's still-clothed but decomposed body, wrapped in plastic and tarpaulin.

Jurors were told a post-mortem examination found six areas of injury to the head.

The court heard blood stains were discovered in the lounge and kitchen, and a blood-stained hammer was found in a carrier bag but tests were inconclusive about whether it was the murder weapon.

A mallet was also found at Mr Genestin's second property in Reading, Berkshire, but it had no recoverable forensic material on it, the court heard

'False files'

A forensic expert who specialised in blood spatter distribution believed the woman was attacked on the sofa and could not rule out the possibility of the attack continuing in the kitchen, jurors heard.

Ms Laing said French national Genestin could have killed his Russian-born wife, who he married in Paris in 1997, because she would have been in a position to blackmail him over "dubious business dealings" if they separated.

She claimed Mr Genestin's computer showed he had been writing to the British consulate in Kiev stating he would sponsor a woman called Tatyana to come to the UK, and had produced false files claiming she was on an English language course.

Jurors were told Mr Genestin met Tatyana online, gave her money and suggested she moved to the UK - a suggestion his wife was said to be unhappy about.

The case continues.