A ‘controlling and coercive’ man accused of raping and murdering his ex-fiancée ‘waved the ambulance goodbye’ as her body was being taken away, a court has heard.
Samantha Mickleburgh, from Axminster, Devon, was found dead at the Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot, Surrey, on the morning of April 14 last year.
She had arranged to stay in a twin room with James Cartwright, 61, the night before because she didn’t want him spending his birthday alone, a trial at Guildford Crown Court previously heard.
Cartwright called 999 at about 8.30am claiming he had discovered Samantha lying lifeless next to him in bed.
Prosecutors say Cartwright, who had been out dancing with his new girlfriend the night before, strangled Samantha the night before after she told him that night would be the last time they saw each other.
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James Pettitt, guest relations manager at Pennyhill Park Hotel, described the scene when he and the ambulance crew entered the room.
He said they found Cartwright ‘completely naked’ and screaming in a ‘loud and exaggerated’ way, with Samantha lying face-up on the bed with dry blood visible around her nose.
Mr Pettitt watched as the ambulance crew moved her from the bed to the floor but decided not to begin CPR because it was apparent she ‘had been dead a long time’, he said.
Her body was then put in a mortuary bag and carried to the ambulance van, Mr Pettitt said.
He told the court he saw Cartwright walking behind the bag, making ‘noises’ as though he was crying, but said he did not see any tears.
‘There was lots of heavy breathing and panting. It was just very loud, very focused on himself,’ Mr Pettitt told the court.
‘He (Cartwright) followed us around the hotel, behind Samantha. He was just sniffling.
‘It didn’t appear sincere.’
Cartwright then approached the back of the ambulance where Samantha had been placed and started ‘feeling the bag’, Mr Pettitt said.
‘I believe he assumed where the head was,’ he told jurors.
‘He bent over, kissed the bag, kissed his fingers and went “bye-bye”.’
At that point, Mr Pettitt made a waving gesture to the court, prompting the prosecutor Louise Oakley to ask: ‘He physically waved the ambulance goodbye?’
Mr Pettitt replied: ‘Yes – until the vehicle had left the premises.’
Cartwright then returned to the room and went through her handbag, from which he retrieved a car key and a piece of jewellery which Mr Pettit described as ‘a diamond bracelet or necklace’, he told jurors.
On seizing the jewellery, Cartwright reportedly told Mr Pettitt: ‘I’ll take care of that,’ the court was told.
Asked whether Cartwright had offered an explanation about what happened to Ms Mickleburgh, Mr Pettitt said: ‘He had mentioned that during the night, Samantha had rolled out of bed.
‘She had hit her head, supposedly, on the bedside table and in turn had a nose bleed.
‘He supposedly woke up to the sound of Samantha rolling out of bed and he helped her back on to the bed.
‘I was informed that he pinched her nose to stop the bleeding and that no first aid was required.’
Cartwright, of no fixed address, is on trial accused of raping and murdering Samantha between April 12 and April 14 last year.
He also denies one count of controlling and coercive behaviour between May 1, 2022, and April 14, 2024.
The trial continues.
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