Jordan Monaghan: Triple Murder accused denies faking suicide note

A man accused of murdering two of his children denied faking a suicide note from his third alleged victim, a court has heard.

Jordan Monaghan, 30, is said to have been the real author of the typewritten letter from his partner, Evie Adams, 23, who he is accused of murdering.

Preston Crown Court heard he killed her with a cocktail of prescription drugs he bought illegally.

Mr Monaghan, of Blackburn, denies three counts of murder.

The court heard he faked the letter and then staged its "discovery" when it fell out of a picture frame, as he removed the couple's favourite photo of themselves to place in her coffin.

Mr Monaghan is accused of smothering two of his own children, 24-day-old daughter Ruby on 1 January 2013, and 21-month-old son Logan eight months later, while living with the children's mother Laura Gray.

He is also accused of murdering his new partner, Miss Adams, six years later on 24 October 2019 by giving her five prescription drugs, including tramadol and diazepam.

Mr Monaghan denies giving her any prescription drugs.

Three weeks after her death, Miss Adams's friend Kimberley Edwards visited Mr Monaghan to discuss funeral arrangements, the court heard.

He wanted to put their favourite photo of them together in her coffin and, as he took it out of a frame, two folded letters fell out of the back.

One was purportedly a letter from Miss Adams to her child from "Mummy" while the second was typewritten, dated two days before her death and was an apparent suicide note.

Duncan Smith QC, prosecuting, suggested Miss Adams "lived for" her young child but it was "odd" that she made no mention of her in the alleged suicide note.

There was, however, mention of Logan and Ruby, Mr Monaghan's children.

Mr Smith said Miss Adams's signature on the letter was a "cut and paste" and Mr Monaghan then "staged" it being found, with his fingerprints discovered on the letter but not those of Miss Adams.

An expert forensic linguist concluded the style of writing was "not compatible" with Miss Adams's writing but "consistent" with Mr Monaghan's in terms of the punctuation, phrases used and composition of thoughts.

Addressing Mr Monaghan, Mr Smith said: "A letter, designed by you to give the idea, the false idea that Evie Adams had taken her own life.

"The reality was you had murdered her."

Mr Monaghan replied: "No."

The prosecution allege Mr Monaghan killed the children when Miss Gray told him the relationship was over and killed Miss Adams when she also threatened to leave him.

Mr Monaghan, of Belgrave Close, also denies two counts of attempted murder and two counts of cruelty to a third child, who cannot be identified, all between January 1 2013 and October 24 2019.

The trial continues.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]