Catherine Wells-Burr: Trio Guilty Of Murder!

Catherine Wells-Burr

A Polish factory worker has been found guilty of murdering his British girlfriend after hatching a plot with his jealous secret lover and her uncle.

Rafal Nowak, 31, killed his girlfriend Catherine Wells-Burr as she slept at the couple's new home in Chard, Somerset.

His lover Anna Lagwinowicz, 32, and her uncle, Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, 38, then helped him dump Miss Wells-Burr's body in her car at a nearby roadside and set fire to it.

A jury at Bristol Crown Court convicted Nowak, Lagwinowicz and Dmytryszyn of murdering the 23-year-old business analyst in September 2012. They will be sentenced on Monday.

The Bath Spa University graduate died as a result of a plot driven by revenge, jealousy and greed.

With her death the three defendants would secure a £123,000 life insurance payout and a half share of a £137,000 two-bedroom house.

The murder was the result of months of secret meetings and phone calls between Nowak and Lagwinowicz, with Miss Wells-Burr oblivious to what was going on.

Nowak smothered a sleeping Miss Wells-Burr with a pillow, before Lagwinowicz and Dmytryszyn removed her body from the house and drove it in her red Ford Focus to a beauty spot at Ashill.

They placed the victim in the driver's seat and set fire to the car at 6am - 20 minutes after Nowak had clocked into work - providing him with what he thought was the perfect alibi.

The defendants had spent months leaving a false trail for detectives, creating fake profiles for Miss Wells-Burr on adult websites and sending texts to her phone from a supposed mystery lover.

Nowak, of Willow Way, Chard, Lagwinowicz, of South Street, Taunton, and Dmytryszyn, of Holway Avenue, Taunton, denied having any part in the death during their trial.

But the jury, who sat through seven weeks of harrowing evidence, found the trio guilty of murder having seen through their web of lies.

Members of Miss Wells-Burr's family wept in court as the verdicts were announced. The three murderers showed no emotion.

During the trial, a heavily-tattooed Nowak wept in the witness box as he insisted he played no part in the death of his "true love".

But the cheating factory worker - who continued to have sex with Lagwinowicz while dating Miss Wells-Burr - failed to provide the court with any other explanation for how his girlfriend could have died.

The father-of-one, who has a wife and teenage son in his native Poland, told the jury: "Everyone blames me for something that I never done."

The court heard how Nowak showed no emotion at all when police discovered Miss Wells-Burr's body in her burnt out car on the morning of September 12.

Her mother, Jayne Wells-Burr, told the jury that he "didn't mention Catherine at all" - instead asking for a steak dinner after his initial release from police custody.

Lagwinowicz, who frequently shook her head and laughed in the dock when Nowak suggested she had been responsible for the killing, refused to take to the witness stand.

Dmytryszyn did not give evidence in his defence during the trial either.

Miss Wells-Burr's parents Jayne and Phil Wells-Burr and her sister Leanne, 21, were in court for the verdict.

Speaking afterwards, Mrs Wells-Burr said: "Leanne, Phil and I are here today because of the cruel, callous, wicked, evil and sickening act of murder against our beautiful Catherine.

"Catherine was an inspirational, amazing, caring, kind, intelligent young woman, who had her whole life ahead of her with so much potential after gaining her First Class Bachelor of Honours Degree in Business Management at Bath Spa University.

"We were all very proud of her and the person she had become.

"The hatred shown to her has truly shocked us, especially the hatred shown by Rafal Nowak, a man who was meant to have loved her."

Prince Philip "satisfactory" after operation!

Prince Philip, the 91-year-old husband of the Queen, is making satisfactory progress in hospital after an operation on Friday, a royal spokesman said.

His wife of 65 years carried on with her official engagements, visiting state broadcaster, the BBC, just half a mile from the central London hospital where the operation took place.

Philip, who turns 92 next week, was admitted to the London Clinic on Thursday and is expected to remain for two weeks after what Buckingham Palace described as "an exploratory operation following abdominal investigations".

"The results will now be analysed," the palace said in a statement. "At this early stage he is progressing satisfactorily."

It was the fourth time Prince Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, has undergone hospital treatment since Christmas 2011.

Philip was admitted to hospital during the queen's Diamond Jubilee last year with a bladder infection.

The 87-year-old queen visited the BBC's newly opened headquarters alone on Friday. She left without making public reference to Philip's hospital stay.

Philip was taken to the London Clinic by appointment after attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace with the queen. Television footage showed him in a grey top hat and tails, smiling and chatting with guests.

Prime Minister David Cameron described Philip as an "extraordinarily dedicated public servant and such an enormous support for our sovereign".

"The whole country will be thinking about him, thinking about the family and wishing him well," Cameron told reporters.

Married in 1947, Philip - the son of the exiled Prince Andrew of Greece - is renowned in Britain for his outspoken comments and off-the-cuff remarks.

Against a backdrop of trumpets and cheering crowds, the queen and Philip were joined by 2,000 guests at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday to celebrate 60 years since her coronation.

Putin divorce announcement takes Russia by surprise!

Russians reeled Friday from the shock announcement by President Vladimir Putin that his 30-year marriage was over, a break-up that was long an open secret but few imagined would ever be made public.

In a highly choreographed joint interview with state television after attending a ballet performance together, Putin's wife Lyudmila said they were having a "civilised divorce" and revealed that the pair hardly ever saw each other.

Lyudmila said she was grateful to Putin for supporting her, while Putin praised the fact she had "stood guard" for the almost nine years he has served as president.

"We are always going to be very close to each other. I am sure, forever," said the Russian strongman.

It was an extraordinarily frank statement for any Russian politician, whose private lives are generally out of bounds. But particularly for Putin, who lives in such secrecy that he has never been officially photographed with his two adult daughters.

The news came too late for most of the daily newspapers on Friday or for the main evening news on Thursday. Those newspapers that did run the story gave it muted coverage.

Kommersant business daily headlined its story "Civilised divorce", saying that the couple suffered from "incompatibility of life rhythms".

Lyudmila, 55, revealed she disliked flying and was averse to publicity, factors that had made the marriage impossible.

State newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta relegated the story to three paragraphs on an inside page, headlined "The marriage is over."

Nevertheless, on Friday morning the story dominated news radio and the Internet, with many praising Putin, 60, for speaking frankly.

"This is all honest, without falseness," wrote Kremlin loyalist daily Komsomolskaya Pravda on its website.

"Putin very rarely acts honestly. The announcement about divorce is honest," wrote former cabinet minister turned opposition politician Boris Nemtsov on Facebook.

"The news about the break-up of the presidential marriage is at the same time absolutely predictable and a bolt from the blue," wrote Moskovsky Komsomolets daily on its website.

"What is sensational is that what everyone guessed has been officially confirmed."

It added the piquant detail that Putin apparently took off his wedding ring while watching the ballet, "Esmeralda", in the State Kremlin Palace. He appeared without it for the big announcement but was photographed wearing it before.

The couple had not yet formally filed for divorce, a source at the city's registry office told the Interfax news agency.

The announcement unleashed speculation about whether Putin is seeing another woman, a subject that has so far been taboo.

The Moskovsky Korrespondent newspaper, owned by tycoon Alexander Lebedev, reported in 2008 that he was about to marry Olympic gymnast turned legislator Alina Kabayeva, 31 years his junior. The paper then denied its own story and was closed by its owner.

Journalist Andrei Kolesnikov, who has close access to Putin, joked on his Russky Pioneer magazine website that Putin is now "the country's most eligible bachelor".

Putin and Lyudmila have been seen together extremely rarely in the last few years and their last public appearance seems to date back to May 2012 after Putin was inaugurated for a third term in office.

In recent years Putin has usually appeared at official functions, including foreign visits, alone -- even if the presence of the first lady was expected according to protocol.

Putin, who was then working as a KGB agent, married Lyudmila Shkrebneva in July 1983, before he started his posting as a spy in the East German city of Dresden in 1985.

They first met in Putin's home city of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) when Lyudmila, then working as a flight attendant, came for a short visit with a girlfriend. A friend introduced them.

According to his biography on his official website, Putin proposed to Lyudmila three years later.

"I knew that if I did not get married in two or three years, then I never would," Putin is quoted as saying unromantically.

Nollywood actress, Kate Henshaw steps out in black!

Nollywood sweet heart Kate Henshaw looks very classy in this 40s inspired look with the draping necklace to give her a very flirty and sophisticated West End look.

 

The actress was recently named as the new Samsung ambassador took the picture while getting ready for the Samsung Evolution gig and posted them to Instagram.

North, South Korea agree to official talks!

North and South Korea agreed in principle Thursday to hold their first official talks for years, a move which follows months of escalated military tensions and comes one day before a US-China summit.

A surprise offer from Pyongyang proposed discussions on a range of commercial and humanitarian issues, from reopening a joint industrial complex to resuming cross-border family reunions.

In an unusually quick reply, South Korea called for minister-level talks on June 12 in Seoul, and urged the North to reopen severed communications channels for working-level discussions from Friday.

"I hope... dialogue will provide a momentum for South and North Korea to improve relations based on mutual trust," said South Korea's Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae.

China, the North's sole major ally and economic benefactor, has been under pressure from the United States to restrain its neighbour. It responded positively to the news.

"China is happy and welcomes that (North and South Korea) agreed to resume their engagement and dialogue," said foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei.

US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will hold a summit in California on Friday and Saturday, at which North Korea is likely to be a leading topic.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the announcement.

"This is an encouraging development towards reducing tensions and promoting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," his spokesman said in a statement.

Analysts also welcomed the development but some advised caution, saying the precise nature and agenda of the dialogue might create insurmountable sticking points.

"I think this is an attempt by the North to seize the initiative, but it's premature to say whether the offer is likely to lead to a sincere dialogue," said Yang Moo-Jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul.

Official contacts between Seoul and Pyongyang have been essentially frozen since South Korea accused the North of torpedoing one of its warships in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives.

April and May this year saw tensions soar to worrying levels as the North, angered by joint South-US military drills and tighter UN sanctions imposed after its nuclear test in February, threatened pre-emptive nuclear strikes.

The situation has calmed in recent weeks, with both sides circling warily around the idea of opening some sort of dialogue.

The North's proposal, carried in a statement from the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea (CPRK), said the venue and date for talks "can be set to the convenience of the South side".

Initial subjects for discussion would be the Kaesong joint industrial zone, which was closed at the height of the recent tensions, and the resumption of cross-border tours to the North's Mount Kumgang resort, the CPRK said.

Humanitarian issues such as reuniting family members separated after the 1950-53 Korean War could also be discussed.

The CPRK said a positive response would see the North consider rolling back measures it took when relations went into a tailspin in April, including restoring a cross-border hotline.

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye welcomed the North's gesture and said: "I hope this will serve as a momentum for South and North Korea to solve various pending issues... through dialogue and building trust."

South Korea had already offered working-level talks on Kaesong and Seoul is likely to be wary of agreeing to a much wider-ranging agenda.

While Park has spoken of the need for dialogue, she has made it clear -- with US backing -- that substantive talks would require the North to show commitment to abandoning its nuclear weapons programme.

Pyongyang has repeatedly insisted that its nuclear deterrent is not up for negotiation.

"There could be some trouble in setting the agenda, and it's natural to doubt North Korea's sincerity," said Paik Hak-Soon, an analyst at the Sejong Institute think-tank in Seoul

"But this is a typically strategic change of direction by the North, which puts the ball in the South's court and I think it presents a genuine opportunity," Paik said.

The Kaesong complex, established inside North Korea in 2004, was the most high-profile casualty of the recent tensions.

Born out of the "Sunshine Policy" of inter-Korean reconciliation initiated in the late 1990s by South Korean president Kim Dae-Jung, Kaesong was a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North.

Operations ground to a halt after the North pulled all its 53,000 workers out in early April.

The Mount Kumgang resort, developed by the South's Hyundai Asan company, opened in 1998 as a symbol of reconciliation.

But Seoul suspended tours by its citizens after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean housewife there in July 2008. In response the North scrapped a deal with Hyundai Asan and seized its properties there.

Hundreds of thousands of family members were separated by the Korean War, and the last temporary reunions took place in 2010.

Obama defends surveillance programs!

President says the programs, which have oversight from members of Congress and a special court, help prevent terrorist attacks.

President Obama defended National Security Agency surveillance programs Friday, saying they are designed to promote public safety and protect civil liberties.

"They help us prevent terrorist attacks," Obama said, despite what he called "modest encroachments on privacy."

Speaking after delivering a health care speech in San Jose, Calif., Obama denounced the "hype" surrounding recent news reports, and said "nobody is listening to your telephone calls" or "reading the e-mails" of U.S. citizens.

People can "complain about Big Brother" and the potential of a "program run amok," Obama said, "but when you actually look at the details, then I think we've struck the right balance."

Obama also disputed the idea these are "secret" programs, saying they are "classified" in order to keep potential terrorists from learning about U.S. investigative techniques.

The president spoke a day after new revelations about National Security Agency surveillance programs that provide the government with access to certain phone records and Internet use, generating criticism from civil libertarians and privacy advocates.

During a remarkable discussion about national security and the right to privacy,Obama denounced news leaks about the surveillance programs, saying this kind of information should not be "dumped out willy-nilly."

"If every step that we're taking to try to prevent a terrorist act is on the front page of the newspapers or on television, then presumably the people who are trying to do us harm are going to be able to get around our preventive measures," he said.

Obama said that when he became president, he made two commitments -- to keep America safe, and to protect the Constitution -- and he has kept them.

The president said he welcomes a renewed debate between the need for public safety and concerns about privacy, adding "there are some trade-offs" involved.

"It's important to recognize that you can't have 100% security and also then have 100% privacy and zero inconvenience," Obama said.

Surveillance programs also have oversight from members of Congress and a special court, Obama said.

"If people can't trust not only the executive branch, but also don't trust Congress and don't trust federal judges to make sure that we're abiding by the Constitution, due process, and rule of law, then we're going to have some problems here," Obama said.

Obama, who criticized some of the counterterrorism policies under President George W. Bush, said his team modified some of those policies to better protect privacy and national security.

The president's comments echoed those of his director of national intelligence, James Clapper, who said in a statement late Thursday night that the data-gathering programs are used to prevent terrorist attacks.

Clapper denounced the leaking of national security information to the Washington Post and the Guardian newspapers.

"Discussing programs like this publicly will have an impact on the behavior of our adversaries and make it more difficult for us to understand their intentions," Clapper said. "Surveillance programs like this one are consistently subject to safeguards that are designed to strike the appropriate balance between national security interests and civil liberties and privacy concerns."

Government officials said the government does not monitor the content of phone calls, and that the Internet program applies only to non-Americans.

Civil libertarians raised questions about the scope and risks of the programs.

"The secrecy surrounding the government's extraordinary surveillance powers has stymied our system of checks and balances," said Laura Murphy, director of the Washington legislative office of the American Civil Liberties Union.

She added: "Congress must initiate an investigation to fully uncover the scope of these powers and their constraints, and it must enact reforms that protect Americans' right to privacy and that enable effective public oversight of our government."

Court Remands Traditional Ruler, 7 Others Over Alleged Murder Of Policeman!

An Ikeja Chief Magistrates' Court on Friday remanded a Traditional Ruler, Adeoriyomi Obateru, and seven others over alleged murder of a mobile policeman.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Adeoriyomi, 48, is the Traditional Ruler of Egbin in Ikorodu, Lagos.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs A. A. Demi-Ajayi, rejected a bail application by the royal father, and remanded all the accused in the Kirikiri Prisons pending advice of the state Director of Public Prosecutions.

She said: "There is a case of killing involved; I am not going to grant bail."

The other accused are: Olawole Oderinde, 51; Hassan Otija, 25; Saliu Bilinu, 43; Yahaya Olaiya, 25; Kamolu Odubanjo, 30; Yusuf Sulaimon, 33, and Adesina Ojo, 32.

They are facing an eleven-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, assault, terrorism and membership of an unlawful fraternity.

The court did not take their pleas.

The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Chukwu Agwu, submitted that the accused persons and others at large committed the offences at 2:25a.m., on May 21 and May 22, at Imowonla Village, Ikorodu.

He said that the accused unlawfully shot dead Insp Ikpi Ikpi, 45, who was attached to Mopol 22, Police Squadron, Ikeja.

The prosecutor also said that the accused attempted to murder Cpl. Olasunbo Iwaloye and Cpl. Daniel Amodu, on whose bodies they inflicted injuries with a cutlass.

Agwu said that the accused also attempted to kill Messrs Wale Kijebe and Ismaila Ijebu by shooting them with a gun and causing them grievous harm.

The prosecutor said that the accused, while armed with guns, cutlasses, charms and other dangerous weapon, dispossessed Iwaloye of his AK-47 rifle and 13 rounds of live ammunition.

 He said that the value of the rifle and the other stolen items, which belonged to the Nigerian Police Force, had yet to be ascertained.

The prosecutor said that the accused intended to intimidate the residents of the village by hiring armed gangs suspected to be members of Eiye Confraternity to terrorise them.

Agwu said that the offences contravened Sections 41, 221, 231, 228, 402 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

He said that the offences also breached Section 1(2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision) Act, 1990

Counsel to the traditional ruler, Mr O. Fabunmi, had told the court that his client was being prosecuted in error.

He said that the name on the charge sheet was not the royal father’s.

  "It is the wrong person that has been brought to court. The name of the first defendant is Akeem Adeoriyomi Oyebo, the Obateru of Egbin, Ikorodu.

"It is different from the name stipulated on the charge sheet. In view of this situation, the first defendant should be granted bail pending the correction.

The prosecutor, however, opposed the bail application.

According to him, the traditional ruler has been answering the name on the charge sheet since the charge was preferred.

The magistrate advised the defence counsel to file a proper application with regard to the traditional ruler’s name.

She adjourned the case to July 29 for mention.(NAN)