Millionaire ‘sugar daddy’ Peter Morgan handed keys to cops and told them £10,000-a-month escort’s body was in the shed, court hears
Property tycoon Peter Morgan, 54, gave a bunch of keys to police looking for missing Georgina Symonds and said: "You will need those keys - she's locked in the outhouse."
A MILLIONAIRE businessman confessed to killing his £10,000-a-month escort in the grounds of his castle - and handed police the keys to a farm workshop where he hid her bound-up body, a murder trial has heard.
Property tycoon Peter Morgan, 54, who called himself her "sugar daddy", told police looking for missing Georgina Symonds: "You will need those keys - she's locked in the outhouse."
Morgan, a married father of two from Llanellen, near Abergavenny, South Wales, had been in a three-year relationship with Georgina, 25, the court heard yesterday.
He allegedly strangled former burlesque dancer Georgina Symonds, 25, at the bungalow where she lived in the grounds of the castle he owned.
The trial today heard he was "enraged" at her plans to move to London to work as an escort and hatched the murder plot.
The jury heard he had made more than 500 calls to a listening device he had planted in her home.
A court heard he tied her dead body to a metal pole to carry it in his £52,000 Porsche Cayenne 4x4 from Pencoed Castle in Llanmartin, South Wales.
Morgan - described as "obsessed" - then drove the body 15 miles to his farm and hit it in plastic sheeting in his workshop.
Newport Crown Court heard Morgan told police where he had hidden the body and when he was searched by officers they found several sets of keys in his pockets.
Prosecutor William Hughes QC said: "He was searched and a number of keys were found in his pockets.
"He said 'you will need those keys - she's locked in the outhouse'.
"Peter Morgan made an unsolicited comment, he said calmly: 'I can't take it. I need to tell you I strangled her this morning."
The jury was told officers went to Beech Hill Farm near Usk, Gwent, where they found Georgina's body hidden away.
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Mr Hughes said: "One hundred yards from the main property are out buildings reached across a narrow lane.
"Officers made they way to the workshop and began to search and the body of Georgina was found behind a large saw situated in the corner of the workshop.
"It had been wrapped in black plastic which had been tied with rope and secured with duct tape.
"The plastic packaging had been also secured to a metal pole, it had been covered in additional plastic sheeting in an attempt to conceal it.
"The officers were unable to see what was inside the sheeting so a small incision was made and once this had been undertaken the officers saw the feet of a human body.
"Each of Georgina's lower legs had been individually bound with black duct tape around the upper calf to hold the knee to the thigh - this was done to ensure Georgina's body would comfortable fit within the dimensions of the Porsche Cayenne's boot."
He said of their relationship: "Morgan was asked about Georgina herself. He said 'I loved her' and had given up everything for her.
"He said that he had been married for 22 years but that he was giving up half of his companies to his wife in order to be with Georgina who was his life.
"They got on really well, would go out on the bikes together, go shopping together, he would let her drive his cars and they would go for meal.
"He said Georgina enjoyed horse riding and going on sunbeds. They spent a lot of time together."
The jury heard Morgan started seeing Georgina while she was still with her ex partner Peter Deem.
Mr Hughes said: "Morgan was not bothered by Georgina still seeing her ex but from what she had told him he did not think it had been sexual between them at this stage.
"Morgan described himself as Georgina's Sugar Daddy and he spoiled her."
The court heard Georgina was living in a two bedroom castle bungalow on Pencoed Lane, Llanmartin - in the grounds of the 12th century castle owned by Morgan.
Georgina - who had a five-year-old daughter - was heard on a secret recording that she wanted Morgan to sign over the property to her and then planned to "fleece him."
He is said to have made hundreds of calls to a listening device to spy on Georgina, stored in his mobile phone under then name "Isobel" for up to two hours at a time.
Morgan first called the number on November 9 last year and went on to called it 189 times that month. He called it 231 times in December and 94 times in January.
The night before the alleged murder, Morgan called the device as Miss Symonds spoke to her new boyfriend, Thomas Ballinger, for more than an hour.
Jurors heard Morgan then made a list of items reading "SIM, gloves, snip, handle, tape, adapter" as he planned the murder.
In police interviews, Morgan accepted responsibility for Miss Symonds' death, adding: "I don't know why I done it".
"He stated that he loved her and he gave up everything for her," Mr Hughes told the jury.
"In November, her ex-boyfriend hanged himself and Georgina was angry at his death and on times blamed him for it.
"He stated that Georgina was drinking and taking cocaine but on the comedowns from this she would get angry and was difficult to reason with.
"He said he wanted her to stop blaming him. He said 'I just done it' and then stated 'When I'd done it I felt no remorse'.
"He stated 'She was my life. I hated what she was going through, maybe I thought I'd help her'."
Morgan told police he arrived at the bungalow at 10am, giving her £400 to pay her council tax and electricity bills.
She did not seem grateful and began blaming him, Morgan told police.
He strangled her with twine before picking her up, wrapping her body in sheeting and placed it in his car, the court heard.
"Peter Morgan was asked about Georgina herself," Mr Hughes said.
"Mr Morgan replied 'I loved her' and had given up everything for her.
The court heard he treated her to spa days, put her up in plush hotels, took her on a helicopter ride and paid for expensive liposuction.
Newport Crown Court heard father-of-two Morgan - who was estranged from his wife Helen - had been recording her on a secret listening device in the bungalow on his castle estate.
He had been paying her up to £10,000-a-month to be his "exclusive" escort but feared she wanted to see other men.
Morgan told officers he heard Georgina was planning to leave him and he was "enraged" by it.
Mr Hughes said: "During the course of a police interview Peter Morgan said he overheard talking to an unknown person.
"He said that once he had signed the bungalow over to her she was going to leave him and go to London to work as an escort and continue to fleece him.
"This enraged Morgan and he began to think about ending this problem."
The jury of eight men and four women was told the fear that she would leave him was the "catalyst" to the killing.
Mr Hughes said of her background: "She worked as a burlesque dancer and her mum remembers her attending pole dancing lessons.
"It's in her career as an escort that she met Peter Morgan as a client.
"There was no exclusivity at this stage she saw other clients and he would use other escorts.
"But the relationship developed from being a professional one to something a bit more than that.
"He would lavish her with gifts and spend a lot of money on her.
"There came a point when he did not want her see other clients and began paying her between £7,000 and £10,000 a month and put her up to live in a property he owned."
Morgan, of Llanellen, near Abergavenny, South Wales, denies murder in January.
The trial continues and is expected to last three weeks.