Murder accused planned proposal to partner – court
AMAN accused of murdering his partner had planned to propose to her at the Eiffel Tower on a trip to Paris set to take place shortly after she disappeared, a court heard.
Giving evidence at Mold Crown Court, Diane Powell said her family and that of Tracy Kearns and Anthony Bird had been good friends for 15 years and they had been planning the holiday to France.
Bird, 48, of Cader Avenue, Kinmel Bay, is alleged to have murdered Ms Kearns at the home they shared between May 7 and May 11 after finding out she was having an affair.
Ms Powell said Bird told her he could not go to Paris with “Tracy out there with somebody”.
He had said he’d been planning to propose to her up the Eiffel Tower, the jury was told.
But the court heard that Bird told Ms Powell that Ms Kearns had left him in the early hours of Monday, May 8.
When she spoke to him two days later on the Wednesday he had not been in contact with the police, said Ms Powell.
She asked him if he was worried about her and he said he was not.
Bird complained that Ms Kearns had been telling him lies and was leaving him, said Ms Powell.
“I just didn’t think that she would leave her children like that,” she said.
“She would not leave the girls. I rang Eileen (Ms Kearns’ mother) back and asked her to contact the police.”
Ms Powell said that Andrew Jones, with whom Ms Kearns had been having an affair, had told her that she was not with him and that he had not seen her since Sunday night.
She went to Bird’s home on Wednesday and found he was getting a quote to redecorate the lounge, which she did not think was appropriate, the court heard.
Ms Powell took the couple’s children to her home and Bird later phoned her to say goodnight to them. He said the police had searched the house and had not found anything.
Ms Powell said the last contact she had with Ms Kearns was on Sunday, May 7.
On Monday, May 8, Ms Powell sent a message asking Ms Kearns about meeting but, while it got through to her phone, she had not read it and no reply was sent. Ms Powell sent further messages on May 10 but they were not shown as received.
They would normally meet on Wednesday morning to go to Slimming World but, on Wednesday, May 10, Ms Kearns did not turn up, the court heard.
“I sent a message to her mother Eileen,” said Ms Powell.
“She rang me back. She told me that Tracy had been having an affair and Ant had found out.
“She also told me that Tracy had not been in touch with her since the Sunday. I thought that was strange.
“I asked if Eileen had contacted the police. She said she had not.
“I told her I would go to the house and get back to her.”
Ms Powell spoke to Bird at the Sandy Cove bar where both the defendant and his partner worked.
He said he had found out about the affair on Sunday morning and that they had rowed.
“Tracy never told me about the affair and I told him I did not know about it,” said Ms Powell.
“He told me about what he had discovered and he appeared calm, not tearful in any way.”
The prosecution say Bird murdered his partner by strangling her before wrapping her naked body in plastic and leaving it covered in debris in a trailer.
He denies her murder but accepts he was responsible for her death.
The case continues.