A murder trial jury has heard how there was blood spattered up the wall in a living room where it is alleged a mother and son killed her husband .
The jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court were told of the numerous places swabs were taken and blood found at the house at Brithweunydd Road, Trealaw, in Rhondda Cynon Taf , where it is alleged Mark Hopes was murdered.
His wife, Maria Hopes, 45, and her son Leon Port, 24, both deny murder.
They have both admitted perverting the course of justice.
Christopher Quinlan QC, prosecuting, said Mr Hopes spent the last 20 or so hours of his life with his stepson and wife on October 2 last year but at 7.49am the following morning he was pronounced dead.
“He suffered significant external and internal injuries to his head, face and body from which he died,” said Mr Quinlan.
“In short he was beaten to death in an assault which must have lasted an appreciable time and involved the use of a weapon.”
Blood on ornaments
The jury was told that foreign material recovered from Mr Hopes’ wounds and from inside his ear matched pieces of a smashed, blood-stained vase found at the property.
The bloodied Sky remote control was also found in pieces.
The court was told it took days to forensically process the property for evidence.
Blood was found almost at coving height in the living room and spread over a distance.
It was also found on the sofa, walls, floor, ornaments and clothing recovered from throughout the house.
'You're dead' What a wife accused of murdering her husband is accused of saying hours before his death
A pool of blood was found on an outside drain cover while blood was found on a kitchen mop as well as on discarded wet wipes, kitchen units, a duvet cover, a watch from the mantelpiece, and the sofa. A blood-stained sofa cushion was found in the bath.
The jury heard a 999 call from October 3 in which Port, of Mount Pleasant Cottages,Mountain Ash , could be heard calmly asking for help, telling the operator his stepfather had been out drinking the night before and had come back injured.
He had then got up and bumped himself and they had tried to clean up his cut.
“We’ve found him but he’s not breathing,” he told the operator.
'Dead weight'
While giving him instructions for CPR a calm Hopes, of Brithweunydd Road, Trealaw, could be heard telling the operator: “He’s not breathing. He’s stone cold. He’s stiff. He’s not moving at all.”
She described him as being a “dead weight”.
Both mother and son have denied murder, each blaming the other for beating Mr Hopes to death.
“His wife and stepson were complicit in that assault and his murder. You have a mother and son in the dock each charged with murder and each essentially blames the other,” said Mr Quinlan.
He told the court that after the alleged murder the two started to dispose of the evidence, cleaning up and washing clothes.
“They helped themselves and each other and not the dying Mr Hopes,” said Mr Quinlan.
The trial continues.
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/pieces-smashed-blood-stained-vase-11308695
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