Becky Watts: Court hears of stepbrother’s ‘confession’

THE stepbrother of slain schoolgirl Becky Watts wanted to “teach her a lesson” when he knocked on her bedroom door disguised with a mask.

THE stepbrother of slain schoolgirl Becky Watts wanted to “teach her a lesson” when he knocked on her bedroom door disguised with a mask.

Nathan Matthews, 28, believed kidnapping her would give her a greater appreciation of life “and other people” and claims he strangled her after panicking when the mask slipped as he struggled with him.

“During a short struggle my mask slipped and Rebecca was able to see my face. This caused me to panic and I strangled her when she was partially in the bag,” told officers in a pre-prepared statement that was read to the jury, reported The Mirror.

He brought a stun device, handcuffs, tape and mask to her Bristol home on February 19 this year to carry out the attack.

He denied murder and conspiracy to kidnap but admits manslaughter and three other charges including perverting the course of justice, preventing Becky’s lawful burial and possession of a prohibited weapon.

His girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, is also on trial at Bristol Crown Court accused of murder, but she denies she had anything to do with Becky’s death.

In the statement he said she didn’t see him remove the body in a bag and carry it to his car. The following day he cut her body in the bath to help dispose of it.

“When I got back to [home] I tried to dispose of the body by cutting it up with a circular saw. Initially I wrapped up the body parts and took them back downstairs and hid them.”

They were later taken to a neighbours garden shed.

Becky Watts was killed after her stepbrother Nathan Matthews wanted to scare her, a court has heard.

The funeral service for Becky Watts

Nathan Matthews.

“Shauna did not know anything about my causing the death of Rebecca or my attempt to dispose of and hide the body. Had she known she would have reported me to the police.”

When Hoare was questioned by police she told them Becky’s family wouldn’t have been involved in her disappearance as they were all “nice people”.

On being arrested on suspicion of kidnap, she said she felt, “terrified, upset, angry, very confused and quite sad.”

The jury also watched an interview filmed by police with Matthews on March 3 in which he held his head in his hands and sobbed, according to The Guardian.

“Obviously I would put her in the suitcase, obviously put tape round her mouth so she couldn’t make a noise then once I got her in the car I would say something to Shauna that I had to go out for some reason, I’d make up an excuse.

“I was thinking of a wooded area but obviously take her back out, obviously still have the mask on and obviously scare her and say something along the lines: ‘Start treating people better and not being a b*tch and self-centred’, and say, ‘or it will get worse’. Obviously I hadn’t figured out exactly how to walk away after. I wanted to find a way to make her listen.”

Accused murderers Nathan Matthews and Shauna Hoare.

“Something like that … I would have chucked away everything first and come back, and acted normal. Gone back to my mum’s and acted as normal,” reported The Independent

The trial has previously heard gruesome details of how Becky was cut into eight pieces with her head being found in a grocery shopping bag. Her body parts were wrapped in cling film and duct tape.

A post-mortem revealed she suffered 40 injuries before she died and at least 15 stab wounds to the abdomen after she stopped breathing. It also cast doubt on whether she was strangled, with a pathologist giving evidence her death was consistent with suffocation.

The Crown alleges Matthews and Hoare had a shared fascination with teenage girls and there was a sexual motive behind the plot.

The trial continues.

Originally published as Becky Watts: Court hears of stepbrother’s ‘confession’