A trans woman was murdered after a ‘three-day sex and drugs binge’, a court has heard.
Jesse McDonald, 25, is on trial for murdering 36-year-old Naomi Hersi.
He is accused of drugging her and then stabbing her to death near London Heathrow Airport in March.
Trans woman murdered after ‘sex and drugs binge’ in London
Police discovered Hersi, half-naked, partly covered by a rug on the hotel room’s small bathroom floor.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood said McDonald got bags and cleaning products.
He said McDonald contacted his girlfriend 18-year-old Natalia Darkowska, who joined him in the attempted clean-up.
‘Each was thinking only of themselves and each other – without a care for the deceased, whom they believed was unlikely, because of her lifestyle, to be missed,’ he said.
Heywood said McDonald would claim defence.
He told jurors: ‘You will not have to decide whether there was a killing or who did it.’
Hersi was originally from Somalia, and lived in Mill Hill, north-west London.
Girlfriend, 18, attempted to help ‘clear up’
The two met on a website called Fabswingers.com, and had four days together.
‘They passed time together, took drugs and had sex at her address, to which she had invited him,’ the prosecutor said.
Three days later, McDonald took her back to the Heathrow Palace Hotel.
‘After a time, he drugged her, fought with her and eventually killed her, stabbing and cutting her multiple times with a broken bottle and knife and perhaps other things in order to achieve her death,’ the prosecutor said.
‘When it was done, when she was dead, he tried to clean it up and avoid detection.’
The jury was told on 17 March Darkowska came from her home in Wiltshire to the hotel in order ‘to help clear up’.
Heywood added: ‘Once she understood what had to be done, she went to buy the necessary things and tried to help and support him through it.’
The trial continues.
