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Special needs teacher Jane Longhurst was murdered by Graham Coutts on 14 March 2003. At the time, Coutts was a guitarist and part-time salesman living in Brighton. He claimed that Longhurst had died accidentally during consensual erotic asphyxiation, although the prosecution maintained that there was nothing to suggest that Coutts and Longhurst had ever been lovers. Coutts was convicted of murder on 3 February 2004, and sentenced to a life term serving a minimum of 30 years (reduced to 26 years on appeal on 26 January 2005). The conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal on 19 July 2006, and a new trial started on 12 June 2007.〔12 June 2007. (Man 'murdered out of perversion' ). BBC News. Retrieved on September 4, 2007.〕 He was again found guilty on 4 July 2007. Jane Longhurst (born November 6, 1971, died March 14, 2003) had been a special needs teacher and musician living in Brighton, England. Her partly decomposed body was found burning in woodland in West Sussex on 19 April. When arrested, Coutts, who was her best friend's boyfriend, admitted causing her death. He had first hidden the body in a shed, then in an empty flat, and finally in a storage centre, where he had visited it nine times in a three-week period. ==Murder trial== At his murder trial, Coutts confessed to a long-standing neck fetish and obsession with strangulation. His testimony, confirmed by other witnesses, stated that he had engaged in breath control play with several consenting partners on many occasions without incident over several years. He had spoken with his GP about his fixation and sought the help of a psychiatrist three years before the killing. Eventually, he started to access violent pornography on the Internet (especially simulated strangulation, rape and necrophilia). He had downloaded a collection of strangulation images the day before Jane's death. This, according to the prosecution, had caused his dangerous sexual behaviour and murderous intent. Critics of the prosecution's argument doubt this explanation, since the behaviour preceded the exposure to such pornography by about five years. No evidence of premeditation was presented to the jury. Coutts testified that he wrapped a pair of nylon tights around Longhurst's neck as part of a consensual sexual practice known as erotic asphyxia, which he had undertaken on numerous previous occasions with several different lovers. The prosecution claimed that he had invited her to his flat under false pretences, then attacked her. Evidence was given by a defence witness that several years ago, Longhurst had whispered to a work colleague that a sexual encounter the previous night had "involved some kind of stopping breathing".〔(Dead teacher made sex confession, court told ). ''The Herald''. Retrieved on September 4, 2007.〕〔James Durkin. 28 June 2007. (Murder case teacher 'spoke of sex games to colleague'. ) icBerkshire.co.uk. Retrieved on September 4, 2007.〕 The defence claimed that this was evidence that the deceased had engaged in activity with another partner, similar to that claimed by Coutts. Longhurst's boyfriend and a previous lover stated that they had not indulged in erotic asphyxia during their relations. According to Coutts's account in the witness box, he was masturbating whilst pulling the ligature around her neck, and when he reached orgasm he found that Longhurst was lying dead across him, with a quantity of blood produced. The prosecution case that a murder took place rested on three key issues. Firstly, was it certain that Coutts would have known that a serious injury was being incurred in sufficient time to be able to stop and prevent the death? Secondly, did Coutts have a motive for causing injury or death? Thirdly, could he be trusted to produce a reliable account of what had happened? 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Murder of Jane Longhurst」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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