A woman stabbed her ex-partner to death after “planning” the attack with her daughter and her partner, a court has heard. Helen Shakespeare, her daughter Letisha Goodwin, 30, and Anthony Hillier, 33, are charged with the murder of Raymond Groves, 48, from Bristol, on July 2 last year.
Kate Lumsdon KC, prosecuting, told Salisbury Crown Court that Goodwin had called police at about 8pm that night, saying she had returned from the shops to the home she shared with her mother in Strawberry Fields, Easterton, Wiltshire, and found “a man lying on the floor with blood everywhere”.
Police, paramedics and a doctor attended the home, where they found the victim, who had been “repeatedly stabbed”, lying face down on the hall floor with a knife in his left hand, another on the floor and one in the kitchen sink.
Ms Lumsdon said that Shakespeare, 53, told them that Mr Groves, with whom she had previously been in a relationship for “many years”, had attempted to rape her. The prosecutor said: “It looked at first blush like the desperate attempt of a woman to protect herself from an intruder.
“It looked like Miss Goodwin had stumbled on a situation of which she had no knowledge. As the investigation unfolded, it became clear that there was more to this situation than meets the eye.
“By piecing together evidence from a number of sources, including material from telephones, the Crown suggests that the true situation is that far from being a spontaneous act of passion, it was a killing that had been planned.”
The prosecutor said that messages sent between Goodwin and Hillier appeared to show them discussing stabbing Mr Groves. On June 18, Hillier, of Royal Wootton Bassett, wrote to Goodwin: “You’re playing with fire baby if you stab him. Your mum can stab him, I’m not getting you in trouble.”
Ms Lumsdon said that Hillier also wrote that he would do it, to which Goodwin replied: “I don’t want anyone to do my dirty work for me, I’m a grown-arse woman.”
Ms Lumsdon said that a post-mortem examination showed that Mr Groves suffered 12 stab wounds, including three to his neck that severed his jugular vein, and four wounds to his back which cut up to 12.5cm deep.
He had also suffered 11 “defence” wounds to his right hand, and two on his left hand, which Ms Lumsdon said was consistent with him attempting to “grab a knife or ward off a knife” to protect himself.
Ms Lumsdon said that Mr Groves had visited Shakespeare on June 27, when the prosecution claim there was an aborted attempt by her to stab him, the events of July 2 being a second attempt.
Ms Lumsdon told the jury: “Mr Hillier told Miss Goodwin he didn’t trust Mrs Shakespeare to do it herself, he would make sure the job was done. We suggest Mr Hillier was lying in wait for Raymond Groves and when Raymond Groves arrived Mr Hillier attacked him.”
The prosecutor said that Goodwin told police in interview that she was “not aware of any plan to kill or harm” Mr Groves, and Hillier did not answer questions from police.
She said that Shakespeare told police that Mr Groves had “forced his way” into the house “with a glint in his face” before “forcing himself” upon her, and she had “grabbed a kitchen knife” in self-defence.
The defendants deny the charge and the trial continues.