‘Psychopath with conscience’ murdered and burnt escorts

A BUILDER who led a double life behind his partner’s back has been found guilty of murdering two women he met through an online escort agency.

Mark Brown, who described himself as a “psychopath with a conscience”, killed Alexandra Morgan, 34, and Leah Ware, 33, on remote farmland he rented in East Sussex.

The 41-year-old put Ms Morgan headfirst into a homemade incinerator before dumping her remains.

The body of Ms Ware has never been found, but the prosecution believe he used a similar method – as well as also killing her Pomeranian dog, Lady. Brown, who had a partner for 14 years and three children, met the women when they were operating as sex workers and began relationships with both of them.

He met Ms Ware – a mother of three with a history of serious mental illness – in 2018 and moved her into a flat for which he paid. In 2019, she moved to his remote farm, living first in a caravan and then a shipping container in the barn.

The court heard that Brown was very controlling and would lock her in the barn when he was at work. He killed her last May when she began pressuring him to leave his long-term partner, but her remains have never been found.

Brown also met Ms Morgan, a former dog groomer from Sissinghurst, Kent, through an online escort agency, and killed her in November last year after luring her to his farm.

Judge Justice Nicholas Hilliard adjourned sentencing until Jan 13, and warned Brown that a whole life sentence was one option being considered.

Det Ch Insp Andy Wolstenholme, of Sussex Police, described Brown as a “predator” who gained the trust of the two women before murdering them.

He said: “Mark Brown is a hugely controlling character. He is really disgraceful. He has taken people into his confidence, he has betrayed trust. He is a predatory man and he has killed two women for his own gratification and there can be no worse crime.”

He said he hoped Brown would finally tell the truth about what happened to Ms Ware.