Mark Brown: 'Pure evil' killer gets life sentence for women's murders

A builder who murdered two women and was described as "pure evil" has been jailed.

Mark Brown, 41, of St Leonards, East Sussex, killed Alexandra Morgan and Leah Ware, who went missing six months apart in 2021.

Brown, who never revealed what happened to Ms Ware, killed Ms Morgan and burned her body in a converted oil drum.

He was given two life sentences, to be served concurrently, and told he would spend a minimum of 49 years in prison.

After Brown was convicted of murdering the two women in December, Mr Justice Nicholas Hilliard said he had been considering sentencing him to a whole-life term.

The judge had told the court if Brown wished to confirm what he had done with Ms Ware's body, that would be something he would take into consideration ahead of sentencing.

Judge Hilliard, who sentenced Brown in his absence after he refused to come to the court, said: "No sentence I pass is any measure of the lives lost. Nothing can put right what the defendant has done, that is not possible.

"His conscience is untroubled by what he has done."

Speaking outside Hove Crown Court following the verdict, Det Ch Insp Neil Kimber from Kent Police and Det Ch Insp Andy Wolstenholme from Sussex Police said they had contacted Brown's solicitors and tried to visit him in prison to ask him what he did with Ms Ware's remains, but to no avail.

When asked what they made of Brown's decision not to attend the sentencing, Det Ch Insp Wolstenholme said: "Mark Brown is a man who needs to be in control.

"I think perhaps this is one of the final vestiges of him trying to retain some control or trying to assert some authority over the people involved in these proceedings.

"I think it's a sign of what a repulsive person he really is."

Det Ch Insp Kimber added: "Mark Brown didn't like to hear a bad word said about him. This is about responsibility and he didn't want to take it."

Before the judge passed down his sentence, the court heard a victim impact statement from Ms Ware's mother, Rebecca Martin.

She said: "He [Brown] continues to extend his sadistic torture of our family's life by not telling us what happened to her.

"She lost her life because Mark Brown wanted to gratify his depraved desires.

"He controlled and manipulated every aspect of her life and then when he had had enough, he discarded her like a piece of dirt."

Ms Ware's cousin Alice Barnard told the court: "She was always the cheeky bubbly bigger cousin.

"The saddest part was that she did not know that the man she loved was pure evil.

"He had committed the worst crimes known to man and he does not deserve to walk the streets again."

The court also heard from Alex Morgan's parents, who said: "She was bright and energetic, with a determination to succeed."

"She had challenges but she was overcoming them and had hopes for her future with her two children who she adored."

Brown, a father of one who had a long-term partner, met both of his victims on an escort website.

He has always maintained that he does not know where Ms Ware is, and that she is still alive.

He had claimed that in November 2021 Ms Morgan had slipped and fallen on a tool or piece of mechanical equipment in a workshop he was renting at Little Bridge Farm, near Hastings, hitting her head.

He told the court there was "a lot of blood", and he was convinced she had died. He then burned her body in a oil drum he had adapted.

The jury was told Brown had sent a message saying: "It happened again, not very long ago when disposing of something.

"It's a very unpleasant thing to do - an old oil drum, five litres of diesel, and hey presto, there's not very much left."

His message, which was read out at the start of the trial, continued: "The things I have done weigh heavily on my heart, on my head and my soul. A psychopath with a conscience - it's a joke really."

Brown was working at a building site in Sevenoaks, Kent, when police launched an inquiry into Ms Morgan's disappearance.

After discovering that Ms Ware had been in a relationship with Brown, police decided they wanted to speak to her about Ms Morgan. It was then they discovered she had not been seen since May 2021.

She had also met Brown through her escort work, but had moved to Little Bridge Farm after being in a relationship with him for about three years.

While searching Brown's van, Kent Police officers found prescription drugs in Ms Ware's name.

Ms Ware, who did not have custody of her three children, lived at the farm with her two dogs, Duke and Lady, to whom she was devoted.

Brown killed her on or around 7 May 2021 after tensions grew when she pressed him to leave his partner of 14 years, the jury was told.

In the days immediately after the prosecution say she died, Duke was rehomed with Brown's sister.

Lady, a Pomeranian, has not been seen since, although remains of a Pomeranian dog were found in a pond at the farm with a weight tied to its lead.

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