A construction worker is facing life in prison for the murder of his secret lover and carrying out a cover-up in a bid to stage her death as a suicide.
Jamie Lee Warn, 57, killed Zsuzsanna Besenyei, 37, two years ago, and hid her corpse in the boot of her Ford Fiesta for several days.
He then disposed of her remains on a beach in Jersey, and left her car on the sands, to make it appear as though she had taken her own life.
Warn denied murder and two counts of perverting the course of justice, but was today found guilty at Jersey Royal Court.
Jurors spent about eight hours deliberating before unanimously convicting him on all three counts.
Last year he was convicted of murder and two counts of perverting the course of justice, but it was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
The retrial heard how Warn engaged in an ‘elaborate’ cover-up in the hope of ‘literally, getting away with murder’.
Warn has been remanded in custody until he is sentenced.
Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Craig Jackson said: ‘From the beginning this was a long and complex investigation.
‘We are pleased that the court has come to this conclusion after reviewing the evidence. In our minds there was no question, but we respected the court’s decision to retry this case.
‘We now hope that Zsuzsanna’s family can move on with their lives and they gain some form of closure from this verdict.’
Jamie Lee Warn, 57, killed Zsuzsanna Besenyei, 37, two years ago, and hid her corpse in the boot of her Ford Fiesta for several days. He then disposed of her remains on a beach in Jersey, and left her car on the sands, to make it appear as though she had taken her own life
Miss Besenyei’s lifeless body was found washed up at La Pulec bay in St Ouen in Jersey on May 16, 2018, six days after she had gone missing.
It was so decomposed that pathologists were unable to determine the cause of death and no evidence could be recovered from her Ford Fiesta as a result of the water damage.
Crown Advocate Simon Thomas said all the evidence pointed to Warn.
He told jurors in his closing statement: ‘If you conclude that he was there, (at the bay) it follows that he knew where her body was and what had happened to it.’
Mr Thomas also alleged that when Warn phoned the police, he did so claiming that he had ‘just found out’ that Miss Besenyei was missing.
He told the court that defendant had attempted to cover his tracks, and added: ‘Someone doesn’t act in that way unless he is covering something up.
‘The fact is that he had murdered his secret lover.
‘The starting point we know is that the defendant and Miss Besenyei had known each other for some time.
‘By 2018 there was a sexual aspect to their relationship. Why else would someone send them intimate pictures of themselves? The days prior to the murder, money was an issue between them.
The court heard Miss Besenyei, who was born in Hungary, moved to the Channel Island of Jersey in 2013 and found work in a local hotel alongside the defendant
‘He [Warn] was calm, collected, measured. There was no panic on his part at all. This wasn’t a moment of madness.’
The court heard Miss Besenyei, who was born in Hungary, moved to the Channel Island of Jersey in 2013 and found work in a local hotel alongside the defendant.
Although they both later left their jobs they continued to keep in touch.
While the defendant had a girlfriend, the two were secretly involved, frequently exchanging texts, the jury was told.
When in May 2018, as text messages read out in court highlighted, she needed money for a haircut, Warn promised to give her the cash. But he failed to deliver, and the texts between the two became more heated.
The court heard Miss Besenyei went to Warn’s flat on May 10 as she was trying to collect money from him.
Clips from various CCTV cameras which tracked Miss Besenyi driving her Ford Fiesta were shown to the court.
She left her home at around 6pm, arrived at Mr Warn’s at 6.30pm and was never seen alive again.
It is thought a text was sent from her mobile phone at 7.30pm. At 8.20pm the prosecution claim CCTV footage from Checkers at First Tower shows Mr Warn buying hand sanitiser.
Although the prosecution admit they do not know exactly how, where or when Miss Besenyi died, they allege Warn murdered her during a 50-minute window.
Mr Thomas told the court material from cameras inside the underground car park at First Tower seem to show Miss Besenyei’s blue Ford Fiesta being parked just before 7am and Mr Warn getting out of the car.
There is no sign of her. It is claimed she was dead in the boot.
The prosecution say Warn drove Miss Besenyei’s Ford Fiesta onto the beach 500m from La Haule Slip, near St Aubin, to make it look like Miss Besenyei killed herself
Mr Thomas told the court the defendant had disposed of her body ‘in the dead of the night’ on a ‘remote beach’.
Cell site evidence heard in court said Warn’s phone connected with a mobile phone mast in Guernsey, which can only be reached from Le Pulec, at the time he is accused of dumping the body on the beach.
The prosecution say he drove her car onto the beach 500m from La Haule Slip, near St Aubin, to make it look like Miss Besenyei killed herself.
The car was found with the front windows open and the keys left in the central reservation.
Evidence heard in court stated Miss Besenyei was fit and well before her death.
Warn’s defence tried to argue the prosecution’s case had been ‘constructed in the absence of solid evidence.’
Summing up, Warn’s advocate, James Bell said cell site evidence was not ‘infallible’ and argued it cannot say ‘who was using the phone at the time’.
No alternative timeline of events was put forward, but Mr Bell said that as no cause of death had been determined for Miss Besenyei, they could not be sure she had been murdered.
He questioned whether someone had killed Ms Besenyei or whether her death had been accidental or had another explanation.
He told the court: ‘Can natural causes be excluded? Was there significant injury not consistent with a prolonged altercation?
‘Was there a clear crime scene? There is no evidence he would want to harm her. There are no messages to suggest he was aggressive or violent.’