Handymen ‘who killed mother’ had murdered before
TWO handymen accused of torturing, raping and burning alive a Vietnamese nail technician have previously been convicted of murder, a jury heard.
Stephen Unwin, 40, and William McFall, 51, both killed vulnerable elderly people in their homes during violent burglaries.
They served life sentences and on their release joined forces to subject petite mother Quyen Ngoc Nguyen, 28, to a fivehour ordeal of rape and beating in Unwin’s home, it is alleged.
She was still alive when driven to a remote lane near allotments and set ablaze lying on the back seat of her Audi A4 car.
The trial at Newcastle Crown Court began last month but until yesterday the jury was unaware of the defendants’ past crimes.
Prosecutor Jamie Hill QC told jurors that Unwin battered and stabbed a 73yearold man in HoughtonleSpring, Tyne and Wear, after breaking into his home on Christmas Day 1998. He then torched the bungalow. He was convicted of murder and released on licence in December 2012.
Mr Hill said: ‘He attacked the victim in his bed delivering multiple blows to the head with a camera and then stabbing him in the chest. His victim had to be identified by dental records.’
Unwin also had previous convictions for theft, burglary and arson, the court was told.
In a previous burglary he had set fire to the victim’s home but the 72yearold man was rescued by neighbours.
McFall bludgeoned Martha GilBy more, 86, to death with a hammer in a raid on her home in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in May 1996. He was released on licence in October 2010.
Mr Hill said the householder, who had mobility problems, disturbed the raider and was attacked. ‘She was struck in the face and fell to the ground and was repeatedly struck on the head with a hammer,’ the prosecutor added. McFall, of Blackpool, had previous convictions for assaults, burglary, robbery and carrying a firearm with intent.
On the night Miss Nguyen was killed, McFall messaged Unwin using a racial slur, asking: ‘Are we raping the ch***?’ After the murder the pair posed for a grinning selfie in Unwin’s car.
Together they held 5ft tall, 7st Miss Nguyen – also known by her English name of Anna – at the house, raped her and forced her to hand over the PINs to her bank cards, which they stole. Mr Hill said: ‘The prosecution say that the motive for this killing was a combination of violent, warped sexual fantasy and greed.’
After raping and beating Miss Nguyen on August 15 last year, the men were caught on CCTV leaving Unwin’s home in HoughtonleSpring with her body wrapped in a white sheet, the jury heard.
Unwin carried Miss Nguyen over his shoulder while McFall pulled down the sheet to try to obscure her from security cameras attached to the house next door, it is alleged.
They then bundled her into her car and drove to a remote spot, where they set the vehicle ablaze.
The victim was likely to have been alive, the court heard.
The men – who worked together on properties which Miss Nguyen rented out – deny rape and murder and have blamed each other for the crimes. The case continues.