Sarah Everard.Photo: Metropolitan Police
During a court hearing in London today, prosecutors said that confessed killerWayne Couzens, a former London Metropolitan Police Officer, used his police identification and handcuffs to kidnapSarah Everardbefore sexually assaulting and murdering her.
Couzens, a police constable who mostly patrolled diplomatic premises, pleaded guilty to kidnapping and raping the 33-year-old marketing executive back in June, and will learn his sentence Thursday in London’s Old Bailey, the United Kingdom’s central criminal court.
Prosecutors said eyewitnesses saw Couzens, 48, handcuff Everard, who appeared compliant and had her head down. The witnesses assumed Couzens was an undercover police officer making an arrest.
Everard disappeared back on March 3 while walking home from a friend’s house at night in London.
On March 12, police confirmed that remains found in the woods in Kent, more than 50 miles away, were hers.
Wayne Couzens.SWNS
Her death and the search for a suspect prompted many women to share stories about fearing for their safety in public.
During a vigil for Everard held on March 13, police, citing COVID-19 restrictions, used force to try and disperse those in attendance.
Press at the scene captured footage of officers grabbing women at the event, which had evolved into a demonstration calling for an end to male violence in the country.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, prosecutors said Couzens told a psychiatrist he strangled Sarah Everard with his police belt.
But authorities believe Everard stayed alive for hours after the attack.
Couzens then burned Everard’s body in the woods and placed her remains in bags.
Prosecutors said that days later, Couzens took his wife and two children on a trip to the same area where Everard’s body was found.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
It is expected Couzens will receive a life sentence Thursday.
Susan Everard addressed her daughter’s killer in court Wednesday,reportsThe Guardian.
Everard told Couzens her daughter was looking forward to having a family one day — a dream he shattered.
“He took her life and stole her future and we will never have the joy of sharing that future with her,” she said, adding that she kept Sarah’s dressing gown, because “it still smells of her and I hug that instead of her.”
source: people.com
