Murder lovers trapped by texts

Rebecca Harris confessed when presented with phone records

Soon after detectives were called to the bedroom where Jaspal Marsh had been stabbed to death, it became clear which way the inquiry would turn.

Accounts given by her husband Stephen Marsh and his lover Rebecca Harris did not seem to add up.

Before long, CCTV images of Mrs Harris and mobile phone records emerged that formed a vital part of their subsequent prosecution at Swansea Crown Court.

They revealed unsavoury images and a damning exchange of text messages.

Detective Superintendent Paul Kemp subsequently discovered that Marsh and his lover had been in almost constant contact via text messages on the night Mrs Marsh died last July.

Marsh met his lover at the call centre where they both worked

Some were sent within 60 seconds of each other but at one stage there was a 28-minute gap in communications.

One message from Marsh urged Harris to carry out the killing, and another explained which kitchen knife to use.

When questioned over the text messages in court, Marsh said he had no memory of most of them and said that years of alcohol abuse had taken its toll on his memory.

But in fact, Marsh had gone to great lengths to provide himself with an alibi, spending the night on a couch at a friend's house during the crucial hours, the final hours of his wife's life.

But, as the jury heard, he was fully aware of what was taking place at his marital home.

After Harris stabbed Jaspal more than 30 times she sent him a message saying: "She screamed and fought - I'm shaking so much." He replied: "You're a star. I luv u."

Mr Kemp explained that after they were called to the house where Mrs Marsh's body lay on the bedroom floor with the kitchen knife still buried in her chest, suspicion soon fell on the lovers.

From the outset of the inquiry there were certain factors of the accounts that were given by Stephen Marsh and Rebecca Harries which did not quite add up Detective Superintendent Paul Kemp

They had become involved some nine months before and their relationship had developed into a sado-masochistic affair with Marsh getting a kick out of cutting his lover with the same knife later used to murder his wife.

"From the outset of the inquiry there were certain factors of the accounts that were given by Stephen Marsh and Rebecca Harries which did not quite add up," Mr Kemp said.

"A turning point was when we examined the CCTV of the Swansea city centre area which showed Rebecca Harries travelling in the general direction of the murder scene.

"The second turning point really was the examination of Rebecca Harris's and Stephen Marsh's mobile phones."

Harris drove to the Marsh marital home and stabbed Jaspal to death

These two elements, he explained, provided the police with evidence that clearly connected them to the murder.

"We were able to ascertain there hade been a lot of phone traffic between them, more importantly there had been text messages. Using the technology that we have, we were able to obtain (some of) those message and examine them.

"Marsh had deleted certain messages that he did not want us to see but left other messages he wanted us to see.

"For example there were messages to his wife telling here he would home that night. There were other messages saying leave the door open, I'll be home later.

"He obviously wanted us to see those to try and give the air of no involvement and draw suspicion away from him."

Mr Kemp said it was when phone records were shown to Harris and her solicitor, that she confessed.

"The circumstances of this were particularly horrific - here we had a young lady murdered in her own bedroom in the middle of the night," he said.

I would describe him as an evil, cold blooded man Detective Superintendent Paul Kemp

"But what is even more horrific was that it was carried out by her husband's lover and that makes it really unusual.

"Rebecca Harries presented us with a prepared statement - she did not go into any real depth as to why she did it.

"She was a frequent visitor to the house so forensically it would have been very difficult to prove her involvement in the murder, however, there was certain forensic evidence found that would eventually have connected her.

"Obviously she has come out with the explanation in the trial that seemed to suggest she felt under the control of Stephen Marsh's influence but whether she actually was I can't really comment," he said.

But Stephen Marsh was not as forthcoming.

"All the way through interview and the trial Stephen Marsh has denied any involvement," Mr Kemp added.

"I would describe him as an evil, cold blooded man.

"I can only guess at what the real motives are - in may well be jealousy, the fact they were having an affair and he wanted his wife out of the way or a financial motive.

"I can only make educated guesses - I think at some stage they need to be asked that."