Hitman 'hired' by cheating husband and his mistress to murder his shopkeeper ... trends now
A hitman allegedly hired by a cheating husband and his married lover to kill his shopkeeper wife must have had 'inside knowledge' about the premises, a court heard today.
Carol Morgan, 36, was brutally hacked to death with an axe or machete in the store room of her corner shop by an unknown assailant more than 40 years ago.
Her husband Allen, now 73, told police at the time that £400 in cash had been taken from a desk, as well as £35 from the till and 1,400 cigarettes, suggesting she was the victim of a burglary gone wrong.
But the desk had a 'secret mechanism' for security – involving opening another drawer to a specific position - which he likened to a 'Chinese puzzle' that he allegedly said only he and his wife knew how to open.
Addressing the jury today, prosecutor Pavlos Panayi KC said: 'How did a random intruder know where the money was and how to access it?
'The killer had some inside information before entering the premises. The obvious conclusion was that the killer was told by Allen Morgan where he would find the cash, which may well have constituted part-payment for the murder.'
Carol Morgan, 36, (pictured) was brutally hacked to death with an axe or machete in the store room of her corner shop by an unknown assailant more than 40 years ago
The shop in Linslade open today in 2024, more than 40 years after Carol Morgan died after being repeatedly struck with a sharp and heavy weapon at her shop on Finch Crescent
Allen and Margaret Morgan (pictured) who are on trial for conspiracy to murder. Allen's first wife, Carol Morgan, was murdered in 1981
A photo of an efit issued in an appeal for information into the murder of Carol Morgan
Opening the case yesterday, Mr Panayi said Allen had taken several large cash withdrawals out from the bank in the weeks leading up to his wife's death, despite the fact a 'cash business' usually didn't need to take out money.
The prosecution claim he was seen withdrawing £250 from a Nationwide branch on the day of the killing when he told police he had been asleep.
Allen Morgan and his current wife Margaret, 75, who the court was told were 14 months into a 'passionate but forbidden and adulterous affair' when Carol was murdered, deny conspiracy to murder.
The couple, from Brighton, are said to have planned the crime because they wanted to be together but faced problems, including financial difficulties which could be 'solved' with Carol's death.
She had funded a large chunk of the purchase of Morgans Food Fayre in Linslade, on the outskirts of Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, with her proceeds from the sale of the marital home after the end of her first marriage.
There was also a policy that would pay off the remaining £5,000 of a loan taken out to cover the rest of the purchase if she died.
'The murder of Carol Morgan was no random attack. It was planned and paid for by the two defendants in the dock,' Mr
