A close friend of a ‘gentle giant’ confronted a Basingstoke man accused of murdering him in a dramatic courtroom exchange in Exeter this week, writes Edward Davenport.
Stuart Hodgkin, 40, is on trial for the murder of Good Samaritan Adrian Munday, who died in October last year, just a month after letting the defendant into his home in Devon.
He denies killing Mr Munday and has since tried to shift the blame onto witness Tracie Gunn, who appeared before Exeter Crown Court to give evidence on Monday.
Miss Gunn, 49, denounced Hodgkin as a killer and claimed he had taken advantage of Mr Munday, who suffered brain injuries at birth and had learning disabilities and suspected schizophrenia.
The prosecution claim to have “overwhelming” forensic evidence that Hodgkin, who was homeless before meeting Mr Munday, beat, kicked and stamped the 51-year-old to death on the night of October 4.
They say Hodgkin exploited Mr Munday’s vulnerability, took over his life, moved into his home at Wain Lane in Newton Abbot, and spent all his money before beating him to death when it ran out.
It is alleged that the defendant, whose family home is in Basingstoke but was living at Stockbridge Road in Winchester, tried to cover up the murder by lighting a fire over the body and fleeing to a friend’s house in St Michael’s Road, Basingstoke in the middle of the night.
Hodgkin says he left Mr Munday alive however, and instead claimed in a defence statement that Miss Gunn had been leeching off him and had made threats to have him beaten up two weeks before the killing.
Bi-polar disorder sufferer Miss Gunn became upset as Hodgkin’s barrister Mr Paul Dunkels, QC, suggested to her that it was she who was exploiting Mr Munday, who was also known by his middle name Hugo.
She said: “It is a load of rubbish. I was not taking advantage of him.
“That’s what he was like. If he met a homeless person, he would ask him to stay.”
She looked at Hodgkin in the dock and said: “There is no doubt who was taking advantage of my friend, who was a gentle giant and absolutely gorgeous, and who killed him.”
Mr Munday died as a result of head and chest injuries, including 20 cracked ribs, which as a result would have compressed his upper body and made it impossible for him to breathe.
And Miss Gunn admitted to taking an instant disliking to Hodgkin after meeting him for the first and only time on September 21, stating her opinion that Mr Munday was “100 per cent capable” of managing his own life.
She added: “This is the hardest part for me.
“He killed one of my best friends and has implicated me in the murder.
“Hugo was like a tree for me. He was my rock.”
The trial continues.