Norma Girolami: Murder accused hid woman's body in plain sight - court

The body of a wealthy woman allegedly murdered by a man she had given £300,000 to was "hidden in plain sight" for 15 months in a north London graveyard, a court has heard.

Serkan Kaygusuz, 42, is accused of murdering Norma Girolami, 70, in her Highgate home on 19 August, 2021.

The Old Bailey heard he had planned her "cold-blooded" killing after she turned off the "money tap".

Her body was found buried in St James Churchyard, Barnet.

A post-mortem examination found blunt force injury to both sides of Ms Girolami's chest, rib fractures, and bruising "consistent with third party assault".

Mr Kaygusuz, a former supermarket worker from Crouch End, north London, denies murder.

The court heard they had met at a local swimming baths.

Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said Mr Kaygusuz's motive was to get "hold of as much money as possible from Norma and later by impersonating her after she had died in order to obtain loans which could also be siphoned off".

"His actions were speedy, deliberate and purposeful," she added.

Ms Ledward told jurors that by buying digging equipment and burying Ms Girolami in a graveyard, "he may have hoped to hide it in plain sight, minimising the chances of discovery".

She told the court he had stolen Ms Girolami's money and jewellery in preparation for a new life in Canada.

Ms Girolami was last seen alive on 19 August 2021, when she travelled from her home for a day out in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.

Jurors were told her remains had been wrapped in plastic and secured with gaffer tape and that a gag had previously been purchased through the defendant's Amazon account.

The plastic tape on the body was "indistinguishable" from that found in the defendant's bedroom, jurors were told, and the sheeting was like that used to collect garden rubbish at estates run by Islington Council, including where the defendant lived.

Mr Kaygusuz has admitted perverting the course of justice by concealing her body and the theft of her house keys, bank cards and jewellery.

He has also pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud relating to bank loans totalling £60,000 in her name and cash withdrawals, and transferring criminal property in the sum of £21,000 from one of the loans into his own bank account.

The trial continues.

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