Man who kidnapped ex-girlfriend as she cycled to work found guilty of murder

A former supermarket worker who kidnapped his ex-girlfriend as she cycled to work and murdered her in his woodland hideout is facing a life sentence after he was convicted by a jury.

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Andrew Lee Pearson, 45, from Chestnut Court, Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire, ambushed Natalie Harker before dawn on October 9 last year, held her face underwater and then took her to his camouflaged tent.

 

At some point he had sex with her, jurors at Teesside Crown Court heard during his trial, although it was not possible to say if she was alive.

Later that day he messaged a friend in the US to say "Goodbye, I have killed Natalie, I'm going to hand myself in".

The couple had split weeks before and Ms Harker, a conscientious medical centre cleaner and church-goer, had told family and friends she was scared of her ex, who was pestering her by text.

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