GUILTY UK - Sarah Everard, 33, London, Clapham Common area, 3 Mar 2021 *Awaiting Sentencing*, #15

[Stella123]

thought he ordered the tarps and bungees online

bought the tape in a store....maybe b&q when he bought green rubble sacks

also. there is a hard floor cover on a roll which can act as a tape. its about a metre long. would be a perfect accessory for murder. not sure if its adhesive or not i will find it and look.

Independent says this

"It can now be reported that he had hired a car the previous day and bought a roll of self-adhesive film advertised as a carpet protector online days before Ms Everard’s kidnapping.

Then, on 5 March, CCTV footage showed Couzens buying two green rubble bags at B&Q in Dover. He also ordered tarpaulin and a bungee cargo net online for delivery on 7 March."

Photo of what it looks like on carpets further down on the link. As all the other papers say self adhesive film, I reckon the guardian has made a mistake. WC was thinking ahead so no signs of body fluids or dna probably. Although you'd think tape might be useful if he wanted to silence someone but he maybe already had something like that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rool-Strol...hesive+carpet+protector&qid=1626119316&sr=8-6



The lies Wayne Couzens told police after he was arrested

 

[Parker Knoll]

The sentencing hearing is 2 days. That is very long even for a case such as this.
He is required in person - not via video link.

 

[CptShadow]

He hasn't been talking till now (if he has). But something has made them decide to look at his car again after all these months.

This is what makes me wonder if he *has* in fact been talking. I suppose they'd only release the basics just now, prior to the sentencing hearing. They probably know a lot more than they've released to the public so far.

 

[johnlair]

Something that keeps puzzling me - we've hard that LE suspect he transferred Sarah from the hire car to his own (presumably alive, because they don't say 'her body'). Why would they know this? What he's said? Or DNA evidence? Or CCTV evidence?

That's the bit that puzzles me in fact the whole hire car thing does ... at first I figured he got a hire car to remove trace to himself... then we find out he used his bank card and phone number ... or remove dna and then we find he transfers the body or even into his own car which he has parked by dover for however many nights?

The whole thing just doesn't seem right maybe he was just really dumb and thought he was going to do the most unsolvable crime there was by all this but I dont know.. It's just hung another set of question marks over the whole thing this new evidence

 

[Seattle1]

This is what makes me wonder if he *has* in fact been talking. I suppose they'd only release the basics just now, prior to the sentencing hearing. They probably know a lot more than they've released to the public so far.

I think it's possible they learned information about WC's personal vehicle from his wife who was also arrested and released. Reportedly, WC stopped talking after giving his story about the Eastern European gang.

ETA: add link
Sarah Everard murder: Met PC Wayne Couzens pleads guilty

 

[Moll]

The sentencing hearing is 2 days. That is very long even for a case such as this.
He is required in person - not via video link.

I don’t know if it is very long compared with other murder cases or not, but it certainly seems long enough to allow the facts to be presented in detail. I attended a sentencing hearing about five years ago for which two days were allowed, though in the event it took a day and a half, for a group of twelve defendants all involved in a series of scams which had defrauded hundreds of people over 20 years or so. The offences were much less serious than this individually, but there were obviously many more of them. The prosecuting barrister went through them picking out the most serious and naming victims who were in court to see justice done.


On Friday the prosecution indicated it was hoped there would be more information about what happened to Sarah available on September 29 than anyone has known about so far. This may have been quoted already but is worth repeating, I think:

‘Police are still analysing evidence in the murder of Sarah in an attempt to establish exactly what happened to the 33-year-old.

Prosecutor Tom Little QC, today told the Old Bailey: “There are some scientific findings which need to be concluded and then potentially some statistical evaluation in order to consider whether, for example, mixed DNA may contain blood or semen.

“That may go to establish where it was that Sarah Everard was raped and where she was murdered.

“The only account that you have for him is that he gave on April 9 when he gave an entirely false story as to what happened to the deceased.

"You wish to be in the position where you can set out as fully as possible what the Crown’s understanding is of the train of events that led to her death.”’

(Kent Online 9 July:

Police officer admits murdering Sarah Everard)

 

[CptShadow]

That's the bit that puzzles me in fact the whole hire car thing does ... at first I figured he got a hire car to remove trace to himself... then we find out he used his bank card and phone number ... or remove dna and then we find he transfers the body or even into his own car which he has parked by dover for however many nights?

Exactly. It's almost a textbook of "how to get caught". Even if the bus CCTV hadn't come into play, he must have realised that the police would consider all traffic that theoretically went past Poynders Court, especially that it wasn't *that* traffic heavy at that time of night. Or did he just assume his car would be like a needle in a haystack, and all this other stuff would just obfuscate things further? Quite apart for the horror of it, the ineptitude of it seems bizarre.

 

[CptShadow]

Reportedly, WC stopped talking after giving his story about the Eastern European gang.

Where was this reported?

 

[Newthoughts]

Something that keeps puzzling me - we've hard that LE suspect he transferred Sarah from the hire car to his own (presumably alive, because they don't say 'her body'). Why would they know this? What he's said? Or DNA evidence? Or CCTV evidence?

It's puzzled me too unless the phone data they have doesn't show him near where her body was found whilst he was known to be driving the hire car?

 

[Seattle1]

Where was this reported?

Sarah Everard murder: Met PC Wayne Couzens pleads guilty

Speaking after the conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service's Carolyn Oakley said: "Wayne Couzens lied to the police when he was arrested and to date, he has refused to comment.

 

[CptShadow]

Speaking after the conviction, the Crown Prosecution Service's Carolyn Oakley said: "Wayne Couzens lied to the police when he was arrested and to date, he has refused to comment.

Thanks. I missed that. This is another puzzler. He (allegedly) says he's remorseful, the Everard family are the victims etc etc. Yet he's keeping quiet about what happened? I wonder if part of the negotiation process next will be to encourage him to give more info in order to provide "closure" for those whose lives he's hurt so badly? Not that someone who is capable of doing what he does might be swayed that way... IMO

 

[Newthoughts]

That's the bit that puzzles me in fact the whole hire car thing does ... at first I figured he got a hire car to remove trace to himself... then we find out he used his bank card and phone number ... or remove dna and then we find he transfers the body or even into his own car which he has parked by dover for however many nights?

The whole thing just doesn't seem right maybe he was just really dumb and thought he was going to do the most unsolvable crime there was by all this but I dont know.. It's just hung another set of question marks over the whole thing this new evidence

I am puzzled by this as well.

Parts make sense cos whilst the hire car could be linked to him very easily if anyone wanted to check - without the bus cam data giving the registration it would never have been linked to Sarah and hence would never have been checked. Without that registration number police would have struggled to get info on that that car and therefore never discovered the link to him

As an police officer I guess he'd be aware of traffic CCTV but less aware of bus timetables, door cameras etc. So I'm guessing he's hoped nothing would pick up the registration in that vicinity.

But if that was the case why bother with the hire car at all? If he wasn't expecting to be caught on camera why not use his own car?

Bizarre

 

[Sherlockhames]

I am puzzled by this as well.


But if that was the case why bother with the hire car at all? If he wasn't expecting to be caught on camera why not use his own car?

Bizarre

Maybe to psychologically distance his horrific planned acts from his happy domestic home life (booster seats in the back of the family car didn’t feature in the dark depraved fantasies he had planned).

 

[annpats]

But if that was the case why bother with the hire car at all? If he wasn't expecting to be caught on camera why not use his own car?

Because he'd then have to use his own car to ferry his children and wife around on the weekends and family days out. I think he just wanted separation between his two lives.
Keep his own car clean and fresh and not involve it in moving a body around.

 

[cestmoi]

That's the bit that puzzles me in fact the whole hire car thing does ... at first I figured he got a hire car to remove trace to himself... then we find out he used his bank card and phone number ...

I think the purchase of the car hire using his own bank card (traceable) doesn’t make sense because we are thinking about how this situation ended.

Maybe this was not the initial intention. Maybe he had arranged to meet someone for an objectionable sexual encounter, which could have been a consenting situation although still questionable enough that his true identity (and profession, and marital status even) he would want to keep private. So a situation involving bondage and control. Following that line of thought, he hires a car so that if “she” (presumably) sees his car, or even rides with him in his car, she wouldn’t know his identity even if she makes note of the number plate. This also gives him more leeway to get a little too rough, if that’s what he’s into, and is more likely to get away with it if she doesn’t know who he is. He can lie, be another person. He pre-purchases tape, or film, to restrain her so that he has full control.

This person could be a sex worker, as he’s admitted being involved with, or could be someone he arranged a one-time meet with (e.g. online?). In either case, he may want to protect his true identity. From everything reported so far it’s not much of a stretch to see him as someone with a sex addiction (all the flashings, the sex workers, the rape aspect of the alleged crimes). Combine this with the lockdown and not being able to frequent nightclubs or have one-off meetups that may be keeping his urges at bay. There appears to be a pattern of his behaviour escalating, spiraling, the loss of control beginning (the flashing in Swanley a couple days before).

Then imagine this meeting not going ahead as planned. Add up all the factors and throw in some rage and stress, he sees SE and decides to do what he does. Maybe that’s where his pre-planning ended. Then we get the scrambling and irrational actions and movements, the online purchases and trip to B&Q. To deal with the part that was not planned. Maybe.

As others have said, it’s hard to believe this is the one and only time for him, but it might be the first time it ended this way.

 

[Nikynoo]

I think the purchase of the car hire using his own bank card (traceable) doesn’t make sense because we are thinking about how this situation ended.

Maybe this was not the initial intention. Maybe he had arranged to meet someone for an objectionable sexual encounter, which could have been a consenting situation although still questionable enough that his true identity (and profession, and marital status even) he would want to keep private. So a situation involving bondage and control. Following that line of thought, he hires a car so that if “she” (presumably) sees his car, or even rides with him in his car, she wouldn’t know his identity even if she makes note of the number plate. This also gives him more leeway to get a little too rough, if that’s what he’s into, and is more likely to get away with it if she doesn’t know who he is. He can lie, be another person. He pre-purchases tape, or film, to restrain her so that he has full control.

This person could be a sex worker, as he’s admitted being involved with, or could be someone he arranged a one-time meet with (e.g. online?). In either case, he may want to protect his true identity. From everything reported so far it’s not much of a stretch to see him as someone with a sex addiction (all the flashings, the sex workers, the rape aspect of the alleged crimes). Combine this with the lockdown and not being able to frequent nightclubs or have one-off meetups that may be keeping his urges at bay. There appears to be a pattern of his behaviour escalating, spiraling, the loss of control beginning (the flashing in Swanley a couple days before).

Then imagine this meeting not going ahead as planned. Add up all the factors and throw in some rage and stress, he sees SE and decides to do what he does. Maybe that’s where his pre-planning ended. Then we get the scrambling and irrational actions and movements, the online purchases and trip to B&Q. To deal with the part that was not planned. Maybe.

As others have said, it’s hard to believe this is the one and only time for him, but it might be the first time it ended this way.

I am also thinking that perhaps this 'adventure' did not go as planned. We shall see if more information comes to light at the sentencing hearing.

 

[cestmoi]

I am also thinking that perhaps this 'adventure' did not go as planned. We shall see if more information comes to light at the sentencing hearing.

Additionally, if things did not go as he originally planned, he may not be talking now because he does not want to reveal what the plans for the evening actually were. This could cause a whole secret lifestyle to unravel and be revealed. So he might be silent now, to prevent any of that from coming out.

 

[Seattle1]

I am puzzled by this as well.

Parts make sense cos whilst the hire car could be linked to him very easily if anyone wanted to check - without the bus cam data giving the registration it would never have been linked to Sarah and hence would never have been checked. Without that registration number police would have struggled to get info on that that car and therefore never discovered the link to him

As an police officer I guess he'd be aware of traffic CCTV but less aware of bus timetables, door cameras etc. So I'm guessing he's hoped nothing would pick up the registration in that vicinity.

But if that was the case why bother with the hire car at all? If he wasn't expecting to be caught on camera why not use his own car?

Bizarre

To my knowledge, little has been provided as to why WC was still in town after completing his shift and/or his time off. I think abducting and ultimately killing Sarah was a crime of opportunity.

From very early reports, I recall that WC drove a motorcycle and relied on public transport to commute to work. Perhaps the family vehicle was primarily driven by his wife.

During a trial, I think we might have learned that hiring cars for his days off was probably a normal occurrence for WC. I think WC liked driving hired vehicles when exposing himself at drive-throughs establishments, especially if he believed he could avoid immediate detection if the incident was reported.

Take note the first check on a vehicle by plate number would result in identifying the Agency as the ownership, whereas more internal research would be necessary before they could identify the actual renter for a specific date/time from a reported incident.

 

[Italia]

Th

Good question. It said they suspect he moved her from the hire car to his own car, at the coast. The hire car place is at the coast in Dover. His own car could have been left nearby. All I can think is he moved her body to his own car on his way home to Deal, so as not to take the body home with him in the hire car. But seems a bit strange. Although, thinking about it - he couldn't move the body in broad daylight next morning, so maybe it was convenient to move it to his car around 1am in the dark, drop the hire car off next morning, in daylight, pick up his own car and then decide what to do with her body.

Maybe they have just worked out more from the timescales, time of death etc? He hasn't been talking till now (if he has). But something has made them decide to look at his car again after all these months.

They are looking at his car again??

 

[johnlair]

I think the purchase of the car hire using his own bank card (traceable) doesn’t make sense because we are thinking about how this situation ended.

Maybe this was not the initial intention. Maybe he had arranged to meet someone for an objectionable sexual encounter, which could have been a consenting situation although still questionable enough that his true identity (and profession, and marital status even) he would want to keep private. So a situation involving bondage and control. Following that line of thought, he hires a car so that if “she” (presumably) sees his car, or even rides with him in his car, she wouldn’t know his identity even if she makes note of the number plate. This also gives him more leeway to get a little too rough, if that’s what he’s into, and is more likely to get away with it if she doesn’t know who he is. He can lie, be another person. He pre-purchases tape, or film, to restrain her so that he has full control.

This person could be a sex worker, as he’s admitted being involved with, or could be someone he arranged a one-time meet with (e.g. online?). In either case, he may want to protect his true identity. From everything reported so far it’s not much of a stretch to see him as someone with a sex addiction (all the flashings, the sex workers, the rape aspect of the alleged crimes). Combine this with the lockdown and not being able to frequent nightclubs or have one-off meetups that may be keeping his urges at bay. There appears to be a pattern of his behaviour escalating, spiraling, the loss of control beginning (the flashing in Swanley a couple days before).

Then imagine this meeting not going ahead as planned. Add up all the factors and throw in some rage and stress, he sees SE and decides to do what he does. Maybe that’s where his pre-planning ended. Then we get the scrambling and irrational actions and movements, the online purchases and trip to B&Q. To deal with the part that was not planned. Maybe.

As others have said, it’s hard to believe this is the one and only time for him, but it might be the first time it ended this way.

Good explanation the only thing I'd say is why tavel with her all the way back toward Kent then if he plans on raping or sexually assaulting her and getting away...

And as for not wanting to mix his evil *advertiser censored* with his family life for using the hire car why transfer her then to the family car after going through all that.

It still puzzles me