Murder accused told ex-partner 'don't say a word' after killing 'adored' mum-of-two

A man accused of murdering a 30-year-old mother-of-two who was in a relationship with his son admitted the killing to his ex-partner and then then told her: "Don't say a word please." Richard Jones, 50, was subsequently charged with murder after his ex reported what he had told her.

Jones denies murdering Sophie Evans at her home in Bigyn Road, Llanelli, but admits manslaughter and says he killed Ms Evans in a moment of stress having believed Ms Evans and his son, Jamie Davies, were scamming him. Jones, of Y Rhodfa in Burry Port, says he partly came to this assertion after watching the television programme Scam Interceptors.

On the second day of a two-week trial at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday prosecution barrister Michael Jones KC said that Jones' plea was not acceptable to the prosecution. Opening the case, Mr Jones KC said the defendant had arrived at Ms Evans' home at Bigyn Road on the morning of July 5 having arranged to help unblock a drain, but minutes later he'd killed her and left her dead on the kitchen floor with a set of keys on her back.

Mr Jones KC said: “What we know is in that house the defendant physically and repeatedly attacked Ms Evans before strangling her to death." She was wearing only a bath towel when police found her on the kitchen floor with a towel on her throat, he explained.

Evidence presented to the jury on Tuesday showed Ms Evans had asked Jones to sign a tenancy agreement for the Bigyn Road property where she was living with her two young daughters. The house was owned by her partner, the defendant’s son Jamie Davies, but Ms Evans had moved into the property in April 2023 and it appears she was paying the mortgage while Mr Davies was remanded at HMP Swansea facing charges of supplying drugs