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Witness thought women accused of Sadie Hartley murder were a couple Witness thought women accused of Sadie Hartley murder were a couple
(about 1 hour later)
A friend of a woman accused of helping to commit a murder of “almost demonic savagery” thought the co-defendants were a couple, a jury has heard. A secret affair that ended in the killing of a businesswoman has been laid bare in a series of explicit text messages.
Horse riding instructor Katrina Walsh, 56, is alleged to have aided ski instructor Sarah Williams, 35, in the murder of Sadie Hartley. Travel agent Sarah Williams, 35, was alleged to have been aided by horse riding instructor Katrina Walsh, 56, in her “murderous mission” to get rid of love rival Sadie Hartley with the pair consulting tarot cards during their planning.
The 60-year-old company director was incapacitated with a stun gun when she opened the door of her home in Helmshore, Lancashire, on 14 January. She was then stabbed 40 times. A jury at Preston crown court heard that Hartley, a 60-year-old company director, was incapacitated with a stun gun when she opened the door of her home in Helmshore, Lancashire, and was then stabbed 40 times on 14 January.
The crown alleges that Williams began plotting the murder 17 months earlier, when Hartley’s long-term partner, Ian Johnston, broke off their affair after she became “possessive and difficult”. The Crown says Williams began plotting the murder 17 months before when Hartley’s long-time partner Ian Johnston broke off their affair as she became “possessive and difficult”.
Walsh’s friend, Ann Riley, told Preston crown court she had never met Williams but that Walsh would talk a lot about her during horse riding lessons. “She gave me the impression that they were a couple. They went on holiday together and spent a lot of time with each other,” Riley said. A series of texts were recovered from the phone of Williams showing secret exchanges with former fireman Johnston, 57, with Williams calling herself a “She Devil” and “little psycho”.
The court heard that Williams would visit her co-defendant’s home regularly with her dog and watch films on the bed. They revealed that the couple had been in a sexual relationship since at least September 2013 and were at times in daily contact with each other.
Riley said she was later “surprised” to learn that Williams had a partner, David Hardwick, a man in his mid 70s. Prosecutor John McDermott read the series of texts between the couple, with Williams saying after one encounter that she had a “lovely time” and that “the sex was fantastic”.
A former colleague of Williams said the accused would talk about men “a lot”, and that she felt uncomfortable when Williams spoke of Hardwick because he was married. The texts continued in this vein, with a besotted Williams describing Johnston as an “alpha male”, but also saying she was afraid of being hurt by him.
Kerry Williams said she was later told of the affair with ex-fireman Johnston. “The information I was aware of was that Ian was with somebody, a rich lady, but it didn’t matter because he was going to leave her for Sarah,” she said. “She was of the mindset that their relationship was progressing.” They also revealed that Johnston, a former fireman, had no apparent intention of leaving mother-of-two Hartley, and at times seemed regretful of the affair.
The witness said she did not ask for further details and said to Sarah Williams: “It’s just like deja vu. Here we go again, I don’t want to know.” She formed the view that the defendant was in “a fantasy world”. In one text, Johnston said: “I wasn’t looking for you or expecting you to appear. Sadie has been through hell. I always do my best to keep people safe. Sometimes I just hate who I am.”
Michaela Burns, who knew Williams through their shared interest in horses, said the defendant worked part-time at a bank when they first met eight years ago. She also knew of the relationship with Hardwick, who she said was “clearly very well-off”. In another text, a frustrated Williams accused Johnston of not showing her enough respect saying: “I am just not good enough.”
“Sarah was not shy about saying she was financially dependent on him and they seemed to live quite a good lifestyle,” Burns said, adding that Williams had two houses and would go on skiing holidays a couple of times a year. But separately, Williams texted friends about Johnston, whom she referred to as “the Fireman” and talked of wanting their relationship to progress quickly, confessing to being a “she devil” and saying: “being the little psychopath I am I want to push it along”.
The witness told prosecutor John McDermott QC that Williams eventually became “unhappy” in the relationship with Hardwick. She said: “I think they wanted different things. She said she wanted a baby but David didn’t want one.” In one long exchange on Christmas Eve 2013, in which Williams is seemingly eager to spend Christmas with Johnston, he replies: “Sarah, please get that I can’t have you here at this time. This is too difficult. Sorry.”
Burns said Williams told her around Christmas 2014 that she had a new man in her life who worked abroad a lot as a ski instructor and was involved with an older woman. “I can’t have you coming round when all these people know Sadie. It’s not about you it’s about me sorry.”
“She told me that she believed this chap was only in a relationship with Sadie for her money and that Sadie was buying him, taking him on expensive holidays, and that was the only reason he was seeing her,” Burns said. In another message he says: “Sadie has been very kind to me. I am not going to just blow her out. That’s just not who I am. This is way too heavy.”
Williams and Walsh both deny murder. Another states: “You knew I was seeing Sadie when all this started. It’s not about you, it’s about me.”
In a series of texts, Williams replies: “I’m just never good enough … I should not be feeling like this and sobbing my heart out. I’m sorry for loving you, I’m sorry for caring …”
Johnston also accused Williams of having a relationship with an older man, David Hardwick, 75, for financial gain. But Williams replied: “I don’t fuck him for money to finance my lifestyle. I have not slept with him for a very long time.”
Johnston’s partner, Hartley, became aware of the relationship in September 2014 when Williams, in an “act of complete spitefulness”, sent a letter to her detailing the affair.
In a diary entry by the co-defendant Walsh it is alleged that Hartley rang Williams after receiving the letter with Williams texting that a “bomb had gone off”.
Meanwhile, Walsh’s friend Ann Riley told the court she had never met Williams but Walsh would talk about her incessantly during horse riding lessons.
She said: “She gave me the impression that they were a couple. They went on holiday together and spent a lot of time with each other.”
The court heard Williams would regularly visit her Walsh’s home with her dog and watch films on her bed.
The witness said she was later “surprised” to learn that Williams already had a partner, Hardwick, , who has been labelled in court as her “sugar daddy”.
While a former work colleague of Williams said she felt uncomfortable with her philandering lifestyle and refused to engage in conversation with her about the subject.
Kerry Williams said she was aware Williams was in a relationship with Hardwick and later told of the affair with Johnston.
She said: “The information I was aware of was that Ian was with somebody, a rich lady, but it didn’t matter because he was going to leave her for Sarah.
“She was of the mindset that their relationship was progressing.”
She said she did not ask for further details and said to the defendant: “It’s just like déjà vu. Here we go again, I don’t want to know.”
She formed the view that Williams was in “a fantasy world”.
Michaela Burns, who knew Williams through their shared interest in horses, said the defendant worked part-time at a bank when she they first met eight years ago.
She too knew of the relationship with Hardwick who she said was “clearly very well off”.
Ms Burns said: “Sarah was not shy about saying she was financially dependent on him and they seemed to live quite a good lifestyle.”
She said Williams had two houses and would go on skiing holidays a couple of times a year.
The witness told prosecutor John McDermott QC that Williams eventually became “unhappy” in the relationship with Hardwick.
She said: “I think they wanted different things. She said she wanted a baby but David didn’t want one.”
Williams, of Treborth Road, Blacon, Chester, and Walsh, of Hare Lane, Chester, deny murder. The case continues.
ENDS.