Northern Ireland

Murder accused wept when police visited his house

Murder victim Charlotte Murray
Murder victim Charlotte Murray Murder victim Charlotte Murray

The Co Tyrone chef accused of murdering his former fiancé Charlotte Murray broke down and wept in front of a friend after police visited the home they'd shared before her alleged disappearance, his trial has heard.

Dungannon Crown Court also heard that 48-year-old 'Johnny' Patrick Miller had also been 'concerned' over her alleged disappearance, and until the police visit six months later, there had been no change in his behaviour.

The second day of his trial was also told the Charlotte herself had told one friend she was "leaving at the end of the month" and had allegedly texted another that she was "going away".

Miller, originally from Coleraine, but with an address in Redford Park, Dungannon, denies murdering the 34-year-old Omagh woman on a date between October 31 and November 2, 2012.

The prosecution claim that while "no body has been recovered" and Charlotte has "not been seen or heard from since - the evidence points to her being dead and that John Miller killed her".

Anthony Girvan, a barman who worked along with Miller and Charlotte in the Cohannon Inn near Coalisland, described him as "hard working - never aggressive or angry", while she appeared "a very quiet girl who kept herself to herself", but became very "talkative" in drink.

Mr Girvan later agreed that it had been Charlotte who had proposed to Miller in 2012, a leap year, but that after her alleged disappearance, her engagement ring was left behind. Miller, he said, had also told them their "relationship had come to an end" and that "she had become very hard to live with".

In cross-examination from defence QC Orlando Pownall, the barman agreed that after police visited the Roxborough Heights home in The Moy, the couple had shared, "he became rely upset".

Earlier that day, in May 2013, Charlotte's identical twin Denise, and one of her brothers had been to police in Omagh to report she had been missing for up to six months.

Mr Girvan agreed that he told police in interview that after officers had gone to the house, Miller "became very upset and was crying and saying - I didn't harm her".

He also accepted that Miller told him he had received Facebook messages from members of Charlotte's family, and that he advised him to report the matter to the police.

Miller, he said, "wasn't a jealous person", and that after Charlotte's alleged disappearance, he "continued to look after her dog and was extremely found of the dog - and while he wanted to travel, he would not leave the dog".

Earlier a friend of Charlotte, Michelle Watts, also confirmed that Miller was "very concerned about her as well as myself," when she left after allegedly texting her "I'm going away. Be good."

She said that while she was "very shocked to see the text, I felt she was just moving on with her life, but I was still very shocked".

A publican in the Co Tyrone village of The Moy, who had a brief affair with Charlotte, said she had told him she was "leaving at the end of the month", and while both she and Miller had separately reported that their "relationship was at an end .... there was no anger or unfriendliness between them".