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A woman whose death is at the centre of a murder inquiry died of "ligature pressure to the neck", a coroner's hearing has been told.
Georgina Symonds's body was found at a workshop at Beech Hill Farm, in Usk, Monmouthshire, on 13 January.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35351725
A millionaire Monmouthshire businessman who paid a dancer up to £10,000 a month to be his personal escort, murdered her after he heard she was going to leave him, a court has heard.
Peter Morgan allegedly strangled Georgina Symonds, 25, in January after using a listening device in her home.
The married father-of-two, 54, had been in a three-year relationship with Ms Symonds, Newport Crown Court heard.
The property developer, of Llanellen, near Abergavenny, denies murder.
She had worked as a burlesque dancer and later as a high end prostitute but Mr Morgan had paid her to stop seeing other men, the prosecution said.
The court heard he lavished her with gifts including a car, paid for full-body liposuction, treated her to spa days, put her up in plush hotels and took her on a helicopter ride from a castle he owned.
Mr Morgan - known to Ms Symonds' friends as "Rich Pete" - became "increasingly controlling" and "obsessive" and installed a secret listening device - disguised as a plug adaptor - in her home to check on her behaviour, jurors heard.
The prosecution told how he killed her after hearing her tell another love interest on the phone she would leave Mr Morgan after he signed over his bungalow to her.
Jurors heard he admitted murdering Ms Symonds to police officers after they traced the missing woman's mobile phone to his Porsche parked at his farmhouse.
He first tried to say he had confiscated her phone to stop her buying drugs, but then admitted killing her.
He allegedly told police: "I strangled her this morning. I took her body to Beech Hill Farm. I love her so much."
The court heard he also told police he had locked her body in an outhouse, and refused a lawyer after he was arrested, saying: "I done it. So there's no point."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-38136906
Prosecutor William Hughes QC told the jury Mr Morgan created a note on his phone at 03.20 the following morning, reading: "SIM, gloves, snip, handle, tape, adapter."
"It was a list showing he was preparing the murder of Georgina. It is a document of real significance," he said.
The court heard he murdered Ms Symonds in the house in which she lived rent-free on 12 January and Mr Morgan carried her body to a metal pole so he could carry her to his luxury Porsche.
He is then said to have driven her body 15 miles (24km) from Pencoed Castle, Llanmartin, to Beech Hill Farm, near Usk, and wrapped it in plastic.
The trained beautician, from the Allt-yr-yn area of Newport, was being paid £7,000-£10,000 a month by Mr Morgan to work as his exclusive personal escort.
But jurors were told he feared she wanted to see other men and was "enraged" at her plans to move to London.
Ms Symonds was reported missing to police after she failed to collect her five-year-old daughter from school on the afternoon of 12 January.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-38142619
On Wednesday, her mother Deborah told jurors Georgina Symonds - who was paid up to £10,000-a-month to be his personal escort - knew everything about him and "thought she could ruin him".
On Wednesday, her mother told the court she threatened to tell his family how she had met him and had a photograph with him and another escort in his marital home, Beech Hill Farm in Usk.
Deborah Symonds said: "She threatened to tell everyone about them and thought she could ruin him.
"She said, 'I know Peter Morgan keeps about £50,000 at home and I'm going to do this warts and all.
"'He is hiding from the taxman and he has also built property that hasn't met building regulations'."
Deborah Symonds, a residential services officer, also said her daughter wanted to hurt Mr Morgan following the death of her ex-boyfriend in November 2015, so he would feel pain like she did.
The court heard she was left "heartbroken" but Mr Morgan "didn't seem to care".
"She was trying to do things to upset him, to make him feel hurt," Deborah Symonds said.
Married Mr Ballinger told the court he met Georgina Symonds at a wake at the bungalow.
"Whilst we were outside George said to me 'my heart's racing' and I said 'so is mine'," he said.
"She said 'did you feel that? It feels like love to me'."
They began texting and had sex days later.
Mr Ballinger said: "She said she was going to finish with Peter Morgan.
"She was going to go back to work as an escort. She said quite clearly she was going to leave him after he gave her the bungalow."
But he told the court he could not remember what was said during the conversation with Miss Symonds on January 10 that was overheard by Mr Morgan.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-38159166
A millionaire businessman confessed to strangling his escort girlfriend and told police "I didn't think I could do it - I loved her", a court has heard.
The married father-of-two was arrested on suspicion of murder in January and asked if he killed Miss Symonds.
The court heard he told detectives: "Yes. I don't know why I done it."
He said he did not like "being blamed for the reason she lost her ex-partner".
"I thought if I can't sort it out, I'm going to kill her. I don't know why I thought that. I honestly don't know what made me do it.
"I got a piece of plastic from my house and some string and I wanted her to stop blaming me."
He said: "I put her in the back of my car. The two boys who work for me came down. We put the bath in, loaded the motorbikes and rubbish on and we left.
"I hadn't really planned what I was going to do. I went back to the farm and put her body behind the workbench and went back to work.
"The worrying thing is I didn't feel any guilt at the time."
Earlier, workman Mark Powell told the court Mr Morgan appeared "fine" just minutes after he is alleged to have murdered Miss Symonds.
"He pulled around in his Porsche. He got out and was making jokes. He was teasing me about doing nothing," Mr Powell said.
Mr Morgan denies murder because of diminished responsibility due to Asperger's syndrome.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-38170696
On Friday, Newport Crown Court heard he had been divorcing his wife and would have given her half his property empire so he could be with Miss Symonds.
The court heard Mr Morgan said in a police interview: "I love George. I gave everything up for her. I've been married for 22 years so I gave up my marriage for her.
"I was in the process of giving up half my properties and companies to my wife to be with her.
"She was my life."
Mr Morgan described himself as a "Sugar Daddy" who lavished Miss Symonds with expensive gifts [...].
He said the former burlesque dancer from the Allt-yr-yn area of Newport was "perfect" and praised her figure.
But he said she struggled with bipolar disorder and had anxieties after the suicide of her former boyfriend.
He said: "She got very anxious with her ex. He texted her and just wouldn't let it go."
Mr Morgan said she was taking cocaine and drinking and claimed he once found her in the bath in a "half attempt" to cut her own wrists.
He said: "She was under the water and I pulled her out. After the death of her ex, she was taking drugs and drinking regularly.
"She was blaming me for his death. She was making me feel guilty and saying it was all my fault."
He added: "I wasn't plotting this for days or weeks. It definitely was not a case of me wanting her dead. I don't know why I wanted to kill her."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-38185302