Man jailed for murder of stepdaughter he was sexually obsessed with

Man jailed for murder of stepdaughter he was sexually obsessed with Nathan Owens was described as ‘despicable’ in court - Bookmark Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Already a member? Log in A man sexually obsessed with his stepdaughter has been jailed for a minimum of 35 years for her murder. Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead in her student flat in Preston the day before her birthday after Nathan Owens, 34, drove 100 miles through the night to kill her. Owens hid his depravity after he married his victim’s mother, Janina, as he doctored childhood photographs of Ms Georgescu into indecent images, filmed himself carrying out sexual acts in her bedroom and with an “effigy” of her clothed in her nightdress. He was convicted by a jury at Preston Crown Court following a two-week trial. Sentencing him to a life term, Mr Justice Jacobs labelled Owens as “despicable” and said he had subjected his victim to a “horrific, brutal attack”. The judge said: “The last 90 minutes of Carla’s life are too horrendous to think about. “I am sure that she suffered both mentally and physically during a material part of that 90 minutes.” He said the background to the events in the early hours of February 4, was Owens’s “long-standing sexual obsession” with Ms Georgescu, an only child. Owens left his partner at their home in Hartlepool, Co Durham, to travel to Preston. He messaged Ms Georgescu pretending that he and her mother were coming to pick up a purse her mother had left behind on their previous visit to Lancashire. CCTV of Ms Georgescu letting Owens, covered with a blanket, into her halls of residence was the last time she was seen alive. He subjected his stepdaughter to a violent and sexual assault, attacked her with a knife and strangled her. Owens then staged the scene to look as if the University of Lancashire psychology student had taken her own life and returned home as though nothing had happened, disposing of evidence on his route. Detectives from Lancashire Police arrested him soon afterwards but he denied any involvement in Carla’s death. Owens chose not to give evidence at his trial. He sat casually in the dock at sentencing and, at times, looked bored with the proceedings. The judge told the defendant: “You have not shown any remorse for what you did. “On the contrary, you denied having injured Carla in any way, knowing full well that you had done so. “You took victim blaming to its limit by suggesting that she may have committed suicide. “Janina had to come and give evidence. “None of that increases the sentence, but it further illustrates, if further illustration were necessary, how despicable you are. “The evidence at the trial of her mother, friends and lecturers at university described a young woman who was down to earth with a good sense of humour. “She was passionate about psychology that she was studying at university, polite, kind, intelligent, articulate and, lovely with a very gentle way. “Everything suggests that she would have gone on to make a great deal of her life. Owens was also convicted of wounding with intent. He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two offences of making an indecent image of a child. Following sentencing, Detective Inspector Pete Macdonald, of Lancashire Police, said: “Carla had her whole life ahead of her which was ripped away by someone she should have been able to trust. “Owens has taken Carla’s life but he has also changed her mum’s completely. He has torn apart the family he was trusted to love. “As Carla’s stepfather he had the unique responsibility of being welcomed into a family. “He should have respected and loved Carla as his own child. He completely abused that trust, harbouring a perverted infatuation with her. “He travelled to her halls, a place she should have felt safe, and brutally assaulted her before killing her. He is truly despicable.”