'Lecturer murdered after lover discovered other affair' » Communities » 24dash.com

A horticultural lecturer was found murdered in woods after one of her two lovers found out about the other man, the Old Bailey was told today.

Linda Casey's naked body was found battered and partially covered by leaves five days later.

Mrs Casey, 54, from Coulsdon, Surrey, had disappeared after meeting gardener Peter Ling for a drink near Banstead Woods.

Ling, 50, of Wallington, south London, was arrested while driving in Somerset after confessing to his wife, Deborah.

Police found emails in the car which Ling had taken from Mrs Casey's computer and which were from her other lover, Ian Tolfrey, said John Coffey QC, prosecuting.

Ling, who did not know about the other affair until he read the emails, denies murder.

Mr Coffey said Mrs Casey was estranged from her husband and had three grown-up daughters.

Mr Coffey added: "Her romantic life was not straightforward. She was having affairs with two men at the same time.

"It is clear that Mrs Casey kept her two lovers in ignorance of each other.

"It is also clear that she strongly preferred Mr Tolfrey to the defendant."

She met Mr Tolfrey in 2002 and her daughter Emma said she was "besotted" with him and cared for him more than for Ling.

She met Ling two years earlier when he was a student in her classes at Sutton College, and they shared an interest in gardening.

Emma said her mother regarded Ling as "a nice man who took her out to dinner and visited gardens together".

Mrs Casey ran her life and lovers on a "relatively strict schedule", Mr Coffey added.

She would meet Mr Tolfrey at her allotment in South Croydon on Wednesdays and on Fridays would meet at various homes.

She dated Ling on Thursdays and Saturdays.

But after a meeting with Ling at Wisley Royal Horticultural Society gardens at the end of July, last year, she said she would not meet him again as he had "gone strange".

"He had discovered there was another man in her life. He had asked Mrs Casey to have sex in the bushes and she refused, he had burst into tears," said Mr Coffey.

He later sent a text message to her apologising for his behaviour and saying he hoped they would still be friends.

A friend noticed that Mrs Casey was edgy and was told that Ling had gone into her emails and discovered her relationship with Mr Tolfrey.

She told another friend that at Wisley "she and the defendant had a bad fight because he had wanted to have sex in the bushes and she hadn't.

"She said he was not best pleased she was wearing jeans not a skirt.

"She gave the impression she was finishing with the defendant because she was bored. She was upset he would contact Ian Tolfrey."

The following Saturday, August 8, Mrs Casey agreed to meet Ling at the Ramblers Rest pub in Chipstead and then they went into Banstead Woods.

Her partly decomposed body was found on August 13 by police tracker dogs.

She had injuries to her head and face and a lump of flintstone was found nearby. Her clothes had been neatly folded in the bough of a tree.

Ling told police they walked over a field to the woods and allegedly had sex "although she had been distant with him throughout the meeting".

He said she wanted to put her clothes back on and felt inadequate when she refused to answer his query about "how he compared to the other man in her life".

"Something inside him snapped and he went crazy. He picked up whatever was lying around and hit her with it," said Mr Coffey.

Mr Coffey added that, the day before Mrs Casey's death, Ling's wife had discovered his Facebook page which expressed an interest in women and dating.

"This came as a surprise to her. In recent times she thought the defendant had less interest in her sexually.

"When he arrived home, he told his wife he did not know if he wanted to stay married and it was like having the same meal every day - sometimes you feel like having something different."

But on Saturday night, he had taken her out to dinner in the Chipstead pub and said he wanted to stay with her.

A few days later, after Mrs Casey was reported missing, he rang to confess to the affair and "fight", adding "What if I killed her?"

He went on the run and told police, after being picked up on the A39: "She is dead."

Ling allegedly said he had been prepared to give up everything for Mrs Casey but found out about the other man after she forgot to log off a computer after viewing pictures of the Hampton Court flower show.

Mr Coffey said the attack with the rock had left Mrs Casey with severe injuries to her head and face. She may also have been strangled.

He added: "The attack was obviously a severe one and at its conclusion the defendant covered her body with leaves and left her there despite the fact that she appeared still to be alive."

Mr Coffey said Ling accepted that he had caused Mrs Casey's death but was claiming it was manslaughter through provocation.