Nathan Owens was found guilty of murdering carla georgescu at her university flat in Preston, bringing a February case to its close after the jury heard how he killed her on her 20th birthday. The verdict came after a trial at Preston Crown Court that centred on what happened in her room at Ribble Hall and how the scene was handled afterward.
Carla Georgescu was 20 when she died, and the court heard that Owens had secretly taken photographs of Carla and superimposed her face on to naked pornographic images of women. Lancashire Police said Owens staged the scene to make it look like Carla had taken her own life, but the evidence trail told a different story.
Preston Crown Court verdict
The prosecution case placed Owens inside Carla's accommodation in the early hours of 4 February. CCTV footage showed Owens going to Carla's flat wrapped in a blanket, and Carla let Owens into the building at about 04:00 GMT after he lied about picking something up. Owens left her flat an hour-and-a-half later.
Lancashire Police said that footage of Carla letting Owens in was the last time she was seen alive. The same evidence also showed a pattern that did not fit a simple entry and exit: Owens returned home as though nothing had happened and disposed of evidence on the way, police said.
Ribble Hall and the missing items
Carla Georgescu's body was found in her room at Ribble Hall on 5 February. Lancashire Police said Owens followed Carla to her room and subjected her to a violent and sexual assault before killing her.
Several items from Carla's room, including a bed sheet, sex toy and socks, were found dumped beside a main road near Tebay in Cumbria. Her red pyjama bottoms, grey trainers and laptop have not been recovered, and her laptop was disconnected from her home's WiFi at 05:19. The missing items map the route police say Owens took after leaving the flat, with bags filled with evidence, Carla's umbrella and Carla's shoes.
Friday's sentence for Owens
The guilty verdict leaves Friday as the next legal step, when Nathan Owens is due to be sentenced. For Carla's family, the case now moves from verdict to punishment, with the court record already set out around the killing, the concealment of evidence and the treatment of Carla's room after her death.
