Obsessed university worker killed boss then wrote ‘ bully’ on her forehead
A UNIVERSITY worker who was obsessed with his boss murdered her when she rejected his romantic advances.
David Browning, 52, stabbed Jill Howell 15 times at her house after being invited for dinner.
Then, as the 46-year-old lay on the floor in a pool of blood, he scrawled ‘Bully’ on her forehead, a court heard.
Yesterday Judge Christine Laing QC warned Browning he faces at least 25 years behind bars after he was found guilty of murder.
Hove Crown Court heard married father-of-two Browning had worked in the payroll department at Brighton University since 1989.
In 2015 Miss Howell became his manager and the pair had a lovehate relationship, repeatedly clashing over changes Miss Howell wanted to bring in.
Browning had suffered severe depression, anxiety and stress in the wake of his father’s death in 2016. His wife Deborah called him Spock – after the Star Trek character – because of his emotionless, logical personality.
As a Samaritans volunteer, Miss Howell, had tried to help her colleague by inviting him out for a drink. Afterwards Browning sent her a text saying: ‘I adore you professionally and personally. You are more than just my boss and I think you know that.’
Miss Howell then invited him to her home for a chat. But it became clear he had formed an ‘intense attachment’, telling her: ‘You must never leave the university or get a boyfriend.’ She referred him to a workplace counsellor and, after he had two sessions, she invited him to her house in Brighton again on October 25 last year.
But Browning had already drawn up a plan to kill her, buying a 10cm lock knife and a shotgun with which he intended to kill himself. He also posted a series of suicide notes claiming he could no longer put up with workplace bullying,
After dinner, Miss Howell suggested at about 10.30pm that Browning should think about going home. He told the court: ‘I said, “I can’t go home.” She said, “Why?” I said, “Because I’ve posted my suicide notes.”’
She said she would take him to hospital and went to put her shoes on. But, as she bent down to tie her shoelaces, Browning stabbed her. He said: ‘I pulled the knife out and stabbed her in the back.
‘She fell towards the sofa and as I stabbed her in the throat once she grabbed the knife with her hand and screamed, “You bastard!” I said, “Sorry Jill, this is what mental health does to you.”’
Browning wrote ‘Bully’ on her forehead in marker pen and posted an image on Facebook that read: ‘ Stand Up To Bullies. Then Kill Them.’
He also daubed other messages around the house in spray paint, blaming a man he mistakenly believed had been in a relationship with Miss Howell.
After the murder, Browning drove himself to the local police station where he said he needed to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act, telling officers: ‘In a nutshell, I’ve killed my boss.’
Outside court, one of Miss Howell’s nephews read a statement that said: ‘We are pleased that this process is now over but it doesn’t change anything for us, it doesn’t bring Jill back and we miss her so much.’ Browning, who had denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, was due to be sentenced today.
‘I pulled the knife out and stabbed her’