A 29-year-old woman who stabbed her 'sugar daddy' to death after he ran out of money for her, was caught on camera walking hand-in-hand chatting about the murder with her lover just minutes after the brutal attack.
Lauren Harris murdered65-year-old grandfather Mark Wilcox at his home in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, in 2023, with her on-off lover David Webster, 43.
She invited Webster into father-of-four Mr Wilcox's house after a drink-and-drugs binge, before the pair attacked him with a knife and a vodka bottle.
CCTV footage from the night of the attack showed how Harris and Webster walked hand-in-hand discussing the murder.
Harris, who had taken off her jacket, can be heardtelling Webster: 'Take your hat off. It'll have his blood on it.'
The couple were seen walking around before Harris is heard saying: 'If we go around here we're going to get caught. You know that don't you? '
But Webster was on his phone saying: 'Not at all. Right speak to you in a bit, speak in a bit, ta-ra. See you in a sec, mate.'
Harris was heard saying: 'Watching our every move.'
Mr Wilcox, who was a Ministry of Defence computer expert, had met Harris at his local pub and said he 'wanted to look after her' in his retirement.
Harris and Webster werejailed for life for brutally stabbing 'funny, kind and generous' Mr Wilcox in a rage — then leaving him to die.
A third man, Thomas Whitely, 33, of Colwyn Bay, had also been charged with murder but was cleared.
CCTV footage from the night of the attack showed how Harris and Webster walked hand-in-hand discussing the murder
Harris and Webster were jailed for life for brutally stabbing 'funny, kind and generous' Mr Wilcox in a rage — then leaving him to die
The pair were jailed after Harris had moved into the basement flat of the mock Tudor seaside home of Mr Wilcox even though his wife was living upstairs.
Mother-of-four Marcia Wilcox had been separated for about 10 years but for 'reasons of convenience, they never divorced, and continued to live in the same house.'
She was upstairs in the main house while Mr Wilcox had the self-contained basement flat where Harris moved in after meeting at the Black Cloak pub, where he was a popular regular.
But Marcia described it as a 'coercive mess'— and that living in the same house as Harris after she moved in was a 'nightmare'.
Marcia moved out of the home on October 20 just four months after Harris moved in during June of last year.
She told the jury of a 'cycle of shouting and abuse' after Harris moved in where she contacted police on several occasions afterwards.
Marcia said: 'She said to me once that I was just a carer. Several times, I went down to him and told him: 'You need to stop. You need to sort yourself out'. It was a nightmare.
'I remained living there but it was awful to live there. I tried everything until I thought: 'I'd better move out'.'
'It wasn't a relationship. It was a coercive mess. You try living with that shouting and screaming.'
The jury was also shown footage of police officers attending the property on October 9, 2023 after reports of a disturbance.
Harris could be heard saying she was 'sick of her (Mrs Wilcox)' and had 'had enough of her.'
But just 30 days after his estranged wife moved out, Mr Wilcox was dead.
In a statement Marcia made to the judge she said he was 'funny, kind and generous'.
CCTV footage captured the pair walking along the road discussing the murder
The pair had tried and failed to use his cashpoint eight times and Harris wanted more money from his bank after bleeding it of £12,000 savings
Webster can be seen on the phone with Harris beside him
The court heard Webster went to the home of a man Harris called her 'sugar daddy'.Webster blamed Harris for the killing.
The pair had tried and failed to use his cashpoint eight times and Harris wanted more money from his bank after bleeding it of £12,000 savings.
Webster told the jury Harris suddenly 'erupted', jumping out of her chair and running at Mr Wilcox.
Asked to describe Harris at that point, he said: 'Like a crazed animal. The look in her eyes - her pupils were massive, it was just the speed at which she did it.'
Webster said Harris then stabbed Mr Wilcox again and they 'couldn't get her to stop'. But the jury was told Webster had taken part by smashing a vodka bottle over his head.
They then stole his phone, watches and Volvo car before crashing it and were arrested when Mr Wilcox was found in his home.
Prosecutor Andrew Ford KC said Harris had previous convictions for assault including unlawful wounding in 2022 involving use of a knife against a partner.
Mr Ford said: 'Mr Wilcox was a gregarious, generous man whose generosity spilled over with the people he met, including, sometimes, strangers'.
'Harris took advantage of Mr Wilcox, and that, to her, he presented an opportunity from which she could benefit,' he added.
When asked about the relationship, Mr Wilcox would say he wanted to 'help' or 'save' Harris.
The court heard Mr Wilcox appeared to be repeatedly lending Harris money.
So concerned were his four sons about their father's apparent decline that one of their partners started a WhatsApp group with them, named 'dad brigade', to keep a 'mutual eye on him'.
By the time of his death, his bank account was overdrawn, with more than £12,000 having been withdrawn from it.
Mr Ford told the jury that Mr Wilcox was stabbed twice to the chest, and suffered 'significant blows to the head'.
He said: 'A flashpoint occurred after some hours of drinking and drug-taking, at which events suddenly turned nasty and violent.
'We say it was an attack in which he was stabbed twice, and assaulted with a weapon, causing significant and different injuries.'
Harris, of no fixed abode, Webster, of Widnes, and Whiteley, of Old Colwyn, all denied murder at Mold Crown Court. Whiteley was cleared.
She was jailed for a minimum of 25 years and Webster for a minimum of 23 years.
Harris at one stage during the case, while the jury were out, could be heard singing Shania Twain's 'Man! I feel like a woman' as she was brought into the dock.
