A marine engineer allegedly sought out a prostitute shortly after raping and strangling his partner, having become aroused by the killing, a court has heard.
Stephen Sexton, 39, is accused of murdering recruitment consultant Joanna Derkacz, 37, at their home in Waterlooville, Hampshire, on December 28 2023.
Prosecutors allege that after Ms Derkacz’s death, Sexton used her car and phone to contact two prostitutes. He reportedly messaged one woman: “I’ll be there in 20 minutes ok baby.”
Nicola Shannon KC, prosecuting, told Winchester Crown Court that Sexton’s “first thought after the point of death was to try and find prostitutes in Portsmouth”.
She added: “Whatever had happened between them in the house it appears that the arousal that we suggest was part of the rape was not fully satisfied. It may be that the act of killing her had raised arousal.”
Sexton denies murder, rape and coercive or controlling behaviour.
The court heard that the couple’s three-year relationship had deteriorated and they had been sleeping in separate bedrooms. Prosecutors allege that Sexton had subjected Ms Derkacz to a year of controlling and coercive behaviour after losing his job and beginning to take drugs.
In a message to Sexton, Ms Derkacz accused him of abusing her mentally and physically, cheating on her and controlling her. She told him she did not feel safe around him before blocking his number.
Prosecutors said Sexton spent much of the night at a friend’s house before returning to the flat after becoming “pretty worked up by being blanked by Joanna”. Ms Shannon alleged that Ms Derkacz was in the bathroom listening to music when he arrived.
The prosecution case is that he may have placed a bag over her head before dragging her towards the bed, where he raped and strangled her using his forearm or the crook of his elbow.
Jurors were told that Ms Derkacz suffered internal fractures to bones on both sides of her neck. A call was made from her phone at 12.59am, which Ms Shannon suggested Sexton used to locate it.
The prosecutor said the phone was not subsequently unlocked using Ms Derkacz’s face ID, suggesting she no longer had use of it and was “almost certainly” dead by then.
Ms Derkacz had warned police about Sexton less than three weeks before her death. During a welfare visit on December 11, she described him as “very controlling” and “narcissistic”, and said he “doesn’t like it when I go out” and had a tendency to “flip”.
The court heard she had told her sister that Sexton had previously tried to strangle her. Prosecutors also alleged that he had taken her phone, damaged a phone and laptop in fits of anger, and once locked her out after she returned 20 minutes late from an evening with friends.
Ms Derkacz’s sister Arleta found her body after going to the property because she was concerned that Joanna was not answering her phone. The front door was unlocked and the dogs were agitated, the court heard.
Arleta allegedly saw Sexton at the top of the stairs. He denied that Ms Derkacz was at home, saying she had gone out with friends, but she pushed past him and found her sister lying lifeless on the bed.
After Arleta accused him of killing Joanna, Sexton was said to have stood in the kitchen holding a knife and told her: “You’re not leaving.” The prosecution said he then turned the knife towards his own wrist, allowing her to escape.
Sexton has a son from a previous marriage and has convictions for assaulting his former wife and damaging her mobile phone, the court heard. Prosecutors said he had a history of assaulting previous partners.
The trial, expected to last nine weeks, is continuing at Winchester Crown Court. It is a retrial after an earlier trial was unable to conclude and the jury was discharged.
