Man nicknamed Jesus ‘stabbed lover’s partner to death on eve of Valentine’s Day’
A man nicknamed ‘Jesus’ because of his long hair stabbed his love rival to death the night before Valentine’s Day, a court has heard.
Mark Meadows, 25, is said to have referred to lover Louise Grieve’s boyfriend Keith Green as ‘one big problem’ in the months before murdering him.
Grieve, 38, who lived with and shared two children with Mr Green, 40, in Banbury, is accused of ‘encouraging’ the killing by ‘fuelling’ her partner’s hatred with lies about domestic abuse.
Meadows’ half-brother Travis Gorton, 20, Grieve’s son Callum Johnson, 20, and another youth who cannot be named are also on trial at Oxford Crown Court in relation to Mr Green’s murder.
Vanessa Marshall KC, prosecuting, said: ‘In the late hours of February 13 this year, Meadows along with his half-brother Gorton gained access to the outbuilding at the bottom of the garden of Louise Grieve and her partner Keith Green’s house.
‘Once inside those outbuildings, Meadows and Gorton turned off the CCTV camera that would have recorded the imminent attack that they had planned and lay in wait for Mr Green to appear.
‘And when [Mr] Green did appear, as had been expected, Meadows and Gorton stabbed him to death.’
Grieve, Johnson and the unidentified youth are then said to have ‘provided assistance and or encouragement to the killing so as to make them along with Meadows and Gorton guilty of the murder of [Mr] Green’.
Jurors were told Meadows and Grieve had travelled to Leeds in August 2021, early into their fling, where he paid nearly £60 for two knives.
His ex-partner later told police she had thought he bought the knives ‘to keep him safe’, due to his keen interest in US zombie apocalypse TV drama The Walking Dead.
The jury heard how Grieve and Mr Green shared two children, but that their relationship was on-off over the autumn and winter of last year.
In September 2021, the court was told Mr Green punched Meadows after finding him in his home.
Meadows texted his sister he ‘took three [punches],’ and he also told his half-brother Mr Green had ‘wanted him dead’.
On October 27, he was said to have described his love rival as ‘one big problem that’s in the way’.
The animosity continued over Christmas when he allegedly spoke to his brother about ‘sourcing one’, suggested to be a reference to a gun by Ms Marshall.
All the defendants deny being involved in Mr Green’s death, with Meadows and Gorton also pleading not guilty to possession of a bladed article.
The trial continues.
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