Lidl worker accused of murdering millionaire lover and burying her in churchyard
A Lidl worker has been accused of murdering his millionaire lover and burying her in a cemetery, a court heard.
Serkan Kaygusuz, 42, has admitted plundering Norma Girolami's bank accounts and hiding her body in a churchyard, but denies killing her.
Kaygusuz befriended the 70-year-old woman at a local swimming pool in north London and over the next three years of their relationship, she gave him a fortune, the court heard.
After fleecing her out of £284,000, Kaygusuz buried the victim's body in St James's Churchyard in Friern Barnet where it remained hidden for 15 months, the Old Bailey has heard.
Ms Girolami, who lived alone in a £900,000 apartment in Highgate, vanished after returning home from a day out at the seaside in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, on August 19, 2021.
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Kaygusuz, from Turkey, admitted perverting the course of justice by hiding the body, theft, three counts of fraud and one of transferring criminal property.
Norma Girolami's were found in a north London churchyard (PA)However, he denies murder and has chosen not to give evidence.
In his closing speech to the jury today, Paul Mendelle, KC, defending Kaygusuz told jurors: "Norma Girolami craved company and she was prepared to pay for it.
"She was prepared to pay for the defendant's company and that was her business. He was a recipient of her generosity. She thought it made her happy, she thought that both were getting what they wanted from the relationship.
"Norma Girolami never complained to police that she had been assaulted, never presented with bruising, never presented with any other injury. There is no evidence of ever being threatened by Serkan Kaygusuz.
"Norma appeared very attached to this man. They would both talk about travelling. Norma would get excited when he was coming and introduce him as a friend. That's the best evidence of the nature of the relationship really.
"His hasty hiding of her body, to all of which he has admitted, that behaviour those offences are bound to prejudice against him.
"On any view, as charitable as I can be, he has shown himself to be a thoroughly dishonest man capable of deceiving Norma's friends, the banks, and the police.
Police searched the churchyard looking for the victim's remains (BPM MEDIA)"He lied to friends, he lied to the bank and he lied to the police. No doubt had he given evidence he would be accused of lying to you. His credibility in your eyes would have been shot.
"You don't have to assess his credibility. You don't need to assess how much you should believe a proven liar, because he's saved you that bother. What's at issue is not his dishonest character, it is whether Norma Girolami died at his hands, whether he committed murder, and we submit that what the defendant has pleaded guilty to does not assist that.
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"His actions show he sought to profit from her death but they do not prove he caused it."
He added: "There is no evidence of strangulation, no broken bones, no throat injury, no evidence of a ligature, no major head trauma, no evidence of restraint, no evidence of binding, no evidence of strike.
"No neighbour heard shouting or screaming or signs of struggle. Of course, there are all sorts of reasons for the absence of that, but the answer to the single simple question of how did she die, you must say we don't know.
"You cannot rule out that Norma Girolami died not from the result of the actions of the defendant, but from an unrelated cause. A minor fall causing loss of consciousness or a heart attack.
"Don't be distracted by the fact that a natural occurrence is unlikely. Don't be tricked into thinking unlikely is impossible."
Kaygusuz buried the victim's body in St James's Churchyard in Friern Barnet (BPM MEDIA)Mr Mendelle said: "What the defendant did was nothing short of despicable. He stole from Norma Girolami. He stole her documents, told lies to her friends, defrauded banks and lied to police.
"Once he had crossed the room and taken the decision to bury her body, Everything he did thereafter was dishonest, deceptive and indefensible. He has not sought to defend his actions because he has pleaded guilty to his actions.
"He got rid of the items he tried to purchase. Once police came to him, of course, he lied because he had buried her and stolen her jewellery and would no doubt be arrested for those offences.
"His actions thereafter do not point unequivocally to murder. They indicate he was guilty of all these other crimes. Profiting from it, stealing her money and trying to escape undetected.
"He is dishonest, deceptive and indefensible, but they do not prove murder, they do not fill the gap in the prosecution's case.
"Firstly, the pathology evidence means the cause of death is unascertained.
"Second, regardless of the evidence that has been taken as his intention before and his behaviour afterwards, the prosecution cannot prove to the required standard that Norma Girolami did not die of natural causes.
"Three, if that is or maybe is the case, then the defendant is not guilty of murder and that is the verdict you are asked to return."
Kaygusuz, of Crouch Hall Court, Sparsholt Road, Islington, denies murder.
The trial continues with Judge Philip Katz, KC, expected to send the jury out to consider its verdict tomorrow.
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