A father accused of murdering his girlfriend joined a series of bondage and fetish dating sites in the months after her death, a court has heard.
Mark Brown is accused of murdering two women who he met through the same adult service website.
The 41-year-old became romantically with Leah Ware - but it is alleged that he killed her on May 7 last year.
A month later, Brown reactivated his account on the adult services website where he would eventually meet Alexandra Morgan.
The trial at Hove Crown Court heard that on October 23, Brown exchanged his first WhatsApp messages with the 34-year-old.
During this exchange, Brown offered Miss Morgan a job at a hotel in Brighton which he said would pay her £100,000.
In the messages, he wrote: “I don’t know if you would be interested but I’ve got a job that’s come up, it’s risk-free and worth a lot of money, it would be well over £100k.
“If you’re interested, I will fill you in properly in person. Please keep it quiet – it would be three to five days in a hotel.”
Miss Morgan agreed to take on the job and in the subsequent days made Google searches relating to "minimum deposit for house", "houses for sale £100k", "how to start a doggy daycare business" and "how to invest in stock market as a beginner".
However, Miss Morgan left a note and clues to Brown’s identity and location at her home in case the job did not work out as planned.
She left a note to her son saying "let’s go rollerblading", and inside his box of rollerblades a phone, cash and a further note was found.
This additional note contained the postcode of Little Bridge Farm, a site Brown rented, the pin to the phone, and the addresses of the hotels where the job was supposedly taking place.
Miss Morgan from Sissinghurst, Kent, was reported missing in November last year, after failing to return from a weekend away.
She was last seen filling her car at a petrol station near her home in Cranbrook, Kent on the morning of November 14.
Her charred remains were later found in the skip at a building site where Brown was working in Sevenoaks, Kent.
The body of Miss Ware, who came from Hastings and had been living in a shipping container at Little Bridge Farm, has never been found.
Brown, of Squirrel Close in St Leonards, denies murdering both women.
The trial continues.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article