Chef accused of his ex-fiancee’s murder wept as he told pal: ‘I didn’t harm her’

A Co Tyrone chef accused of murdering his former fiancee broke down and wept in front of a friend after police visited the home they had shared before her alleged disappearance, a court has heard.

John Patrick Miller (48) had also been “concerned” after Charlotte Murray allegedly went missing, and until the police visited six months later, there had been no change in his behaviour, a jury at Dungannon Crown Court was told.

The second day of his trial heard that Charlotte herself had told one friend she was “leaving at the end of the month” and had allegedly texted another that she was “going away”.

Miller, originally from Coleraine, but with an address in Redford Park, Dungannon, denies murdering the 34-year-old Omagh woman on a date between October 31 and November 2, 2012.

The prosecution claim while “no body has been recovered” and Charlotte has “not been seen or heard from since — the evidence points to her being dead and that John Miller killed her”.

Anthony Girvan, a barman who worked along with Miller and Charlotte in the Cohannon Inn near Dungannon, described him as “hard working — never aggressive or angry”, while she appeared “a very quiet girl who kept herself to herself ”, but became very “talkative” in drink.

Mr Girvan later agreed that it had been Charlotte who had proposed to Miller in 2012, a leap year, but that after her alleged

Disappearance: Charlotte Murray

disappearance, her engagement ring was left behind.

Miller, he said, also told him their “relationship had come to an end” and that “she had become very hard to live with”.

In cross-examination from defence QC Orlando Pownall, the barman agreed that after police visited the Roxborough Heights home in The Moy the couple had shared, “he became really upset”.

Earlier that day, in May 2013, Charlotte’s identical twin Denise, and one of her brothers, had been to police in Omagh to report she had been missing for up to six months.

Mr Girvan agreed that he told police in an interview that after officers had gone to the house, Miller “became very upset and was crying and saying, ‘I didn’t harm her’”.

He also accepted that Miller told him he had received Facebook messages from members of Charlotte’s family, and that he advised him to report the matter to the police.

Miller, he said, “wasn’t a jealous person”, and that after Charlotte’s alleged disappearance, he “continued to look after her dog and was extremely fond of the dog — and while he wanted to travel, he would not leave the dog”.

Earlier a friend of Charlotte, Michelle Watts, also confirmed that Miller was “very concerned about her as well as myself”, when she left after allegedly texting her “I’m going away. Be good”.

She said that while she was “very shocked to see the text, I felt she was just moving on with her life, but I was still very shocked”.

Ms Watts later said that while the text was a “bolt out of the blue”, Charlotte, who in drink could be volatile and unpredictable, did not appear to be “happy with her life and her work — she just wanted to be happy”.

Charlotte had also told her “Johnny and her were actually splitting up”, and that the “impression she got was a person, someone who wanted a new life”.

Charlotte’s eldest sister and brother also said they had not seen her for a year and a half to two years before the family reported her missing to police.

They described her as pleasant and helpful, but accepted she could change in drink.

They also confirmed that at times Charlotte would disappear without telling anyone, and on one occasion even went abroad on holiday without saying.

Her brother Aiden said that Charlotte could disappear “for weeks” but agreed with prosecution QC Richard Weir that, while this may be the case, his sister had “never disappeared for years”.

The trial continues.