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A woman killed her older sister before stealing her gold diamond-encrusted Rolex watch, a court has heard.
Nancy Pexton, 69, appeared before the Old Bailey on Thursday accused of murdering Jennifer Abbott in her north London flat on 10 June last year.
Pexton, of no fixed address, has denied murdering her film-maker sister, then 69, who was found dead on 13 June when a neighbour forced their way into Abbott’s Camden flat after becoming concerned by her dog’s constant barking. The dog, a corgi named Prince, was found locked in the bathroom, distressed but unharmed.
Opening the case for the prosecution on Thursday, William Boyce KC told the court: “[Pexton] said she could not remember what had happened in the previous 90 minutes, which was the period we say she was undoubtedly in her sister’s flat, the period we say she murdered her sister.”
The court heard that Abbott’s neighbour called emergency services after finding her decomposing and partly naked body on the living room floor with tape across her mouth and a large “slash-type” wound across her neck. A subsequent autopsy revealed that she had sustained a number of stab and slash wounds and a single defensive wound to the right hand.
Abbott was last seen on a doorbell camera walking her dog at 7.36am that morning. She later spoke to Pexton, nine months younger than her, on the phone at 11.36am and arrived at her flat an hour later. The court heard that Pexton stayed at the flat for about another hour before leaving at around 1.45pm.
Jurors were told that Abbott was found without her Rolex, despite the fact that she was “greatly attached” to the watch and seldom took it off. The Rolex was later found during a police search of Pexton’s bag. Asked why she had it, Pexton said: “Oh yes, that’s my sister’s. She asked me to look after it.”
The court heard that Pexton’s answer was at odds with what she had told police the day prior, when she said she didn’t know if Abbott “was wearing her Rolex watch that day. She would never take it off, she always wore it.”
After the alleged killing, Pexton was found to have called her GP claiming to taken an overdose, leading to her being hospitalised. Before being admitted to hospital, Pexton allegedly told a 999 operator that she had been abused by her family, but they were “very powerful” and would kill her if she ever reported the abuse to authorities.
The blue dungarees Pexton wore on the day of the alleged murder were covered in Abbott’s blood, the court heard, and she allegedly asked one of her daughters to wash or dispose of them in hospital. Pexton claimed the blood was a result of her sister suffering a nosebleed while the pair hugged.
Pexton later told police her sister had been in “good spirits” when she last saw her, and she did not remember details around the time Abbott is thought to have died as she had “blacked out”.
The trial continues.
