Conman is guilty of hotel murder

Glenn Rycroft had previously conned £200,000 from friends and relatives

A convicted conman has been found guilty of murdering his lover, a married father-of-three, at a hotel.

Glenn Rycroft, 33, denied killing Gareth MacDonald, 30, from Prestatyn, Denbighshire, in a Travelodge room near London on 14 September 2007.

Rycroft, originally from Salford but now from Flintshire, hit him over the head twice with a fire extinguisher.

Judge Timothy Pontius, sitting at the Old Bailey, is expected to sentence him on Friday.

Mr MacDonald, a 30-year-old father of three, had left his wife and children to move in with Rycroft after meeting him on the internet.

The couple had travelled to London so Rycroft could pay back £5,000 to his aunt and uncle who he had previously conned the money from.

But during the trip, Mr MacDonald's body was found by staff at Heston Services on the westbound M4, near Heathrow airport.

To learn Gareth was taken in such a horrendous way by someone we trusted and made welcome in to our house is still unthinkable Susan MacDonald, victim's mother

Rycroft, a former British Airways steward, claimed he was asked to leave the hotel room by his partner, who he said had arranged to meet a male prostitute, but on his return he found Mr MacDonald's body.

But the court heard Rycroft's shoes were found to be spattered with Mr McDonald's blood and his fingerprints were found on the fire extinguisher.

The jury was also told that the victim had started to become suspicious of his lover after money started going missing from his bank account.

Mr MacDonald, a former pub landlord, had confided in his estranged wife that he "always seemed to be paying the bills".

It also emerged that in the days leading up to the murder, Rycroft made a series of internet searches including 'how to kill' and 'can blows to the head kill'.

Police believed he may also have tampered with Mr MacDonald's insulin doses.

The court heard Rycroft was previously jailed for four years after he swindled friends and relatives out of more than £200,000 with an investment scam.

He also took more money from them by pretending he had terminal cancer before finally being jailed in 2003.

During the trial, he was branded a 'fantasist and cowardly killer' who resorted to violence when his tissue of lies was exposed.

'Trusting' and 'vulnerable'

In a statement read to the court, Mr MacDonald's mother Susan said her family was still coming to terms with the circumstances in which her son was killed.

"To learn Gareth was taken in such a horrendous way by someone we trusted and made welcome in to our house is still unthinkable," the statement said.

"Gareth was not only my son but also my friend and I miss him so much. It is such a waste.

"Gareth was so full of love, fun and a zest for life. He used to say life is for living and enjoy every day."

Mrs MacDonald said her son "brought joy and happiness" to everyone who knew him and was a "doting a loving father" to his children aged seven, six and two.

Her statement continued: "Words cannot really explain the pain of losing your child in the circumstance that Gareth died."