Man ‘obsessed’ with stepdaughter ‘filmed intercourse acts with effigy of her’ earlier than homicide
WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: Nathan Owens murdered his stepdaughter Carla Georgescu in a “horrific, brutal attack” the day before his birthday as the court heard of his sex acts on an “effgy” he made of her
A man sexually obsessed with his stepdaughter and made an “effigy” of her to film sex acts on has been jailed for a minimum of 35 years for her murder today (October 23). Carla Georgescu, 19, was found dead in her student flat in Preston.
She was killed the day before her birthday after Nathan Owens, 34, drove 100 miles through the night to carry out the “brutal” murder.
Owens hid his depravity after he married his victim’s mother, Janina, as he doctored childhood photographs of Ms Georgescu into indecent images. He also filmed himself carrying out sexual acts in her bedroom and with an “effigy” of her clothed in her nightdress.
Carla Georgescu was found dead on what would have been her 20th birthday(Image: Lancashire Live/MEN Media)
He was convicted by a jury at Preston Crown Court following a two-week trial. Sentencing him to a life term, Mr Justice Jacobs labelled Owens as “despicable” and said he had subjected his victim to a “horrific, brutal attack”.
The judge said: “The last 90 minutes of Carla’s life are too horrendous to think about.
“I am sure that she suffered both mentally and physically during a material part of that 90 minutes.”
In the early hours of February 4, Owens left his partner at their home in Hartlepool, Co Durham, to travel to Preston.
Nathan Owens developed a ‘dangerous sexual obsession’ with his stepdaughter (Image: Lancashire Police)
He messaged Carla on Instagram, pretending that he and her mother were coming to pick up a purse her mother had left behind on their previous visit to Lancashire.
CCTV of Carla letting Owens, covered with a blanket, into her halls of residence was the last time she was seen alive. He subjected his stepdaughter to a violent and sexual assault as he strangled her.
Owens then staged the scene to look as if Carla had taken her own life and returned home as though nothing had happened, disposing of evidence on his route.
That day, Carla’s mum hadn’t heard from her and was growing concerned after multiple messages went unanswered. Lancashire police said Owens carried on as normal and even held Carla’s mum’s hand despite having killed her child hours earlier.
Owens was caught on CCTV entering into his stepdaughter’s accommodation under a blanket (Image: Lancashire Police)
By the Wednesday, which was Carla’s birthday, her mum still hadn’t had a response and called the police asking for a welfare check to be carried out .
Police officers and university staff went to Carla’s room to check on her and tragically found her body. Because of how Owens had made the scene look, it was initially thought that Carla had taken her own life.
However, a Home Office Post Mortem examination later determined that Carla has been the victim of a horrendous assault.
She had suffered at least, two heavy blows to her head, wounds to her cheek thought to be caused by a sharp object, and a number of other significant injuries and evidence of a sexual assault.
The examination concluded that it was ultimately strangulation that caused Carla’s death. It was ruled that None of her injuries could have been self-inflicted.
While this was being carried out, both Carla’s mum and Owens had been informed that her body had been found.
The last known footage of Carla before she was killed as she let her stepdad inside (Image: Lancashire Police)
On a second visit, Owens was asked by officers about being seen on CCTV at Carla’s accommodation.
He lied to those officers by telling them that he had picked Carla’s mum up at around 4am and they were home before it went light.
When Carla’s mum wasn’t there to counteract him, as she was upstairs asleep after learning of her daughter’s death, he continued to lie.
Owens was clearly worried he was going to be caught out in his crimes, as he began to make internet searches after the officers left, including ‘I think the police think I’m guilty’.
Before this became a murder investigation, Carla’s had called the mortuary, asking for details about how Carla was found.
This panicked Owen as he confessed to Carla’s mum that he had in fact travelled to Preston in the early hours of the morning after lying once again to say Carla had asked him to help her tidy her room, and to bring her some incontinence pads.
Detectives from Lancashire Police arrested him soon afterwards but he denied any involvement in Carla’s death. After Owens was arrested, police searched his devices an uncovered his sexual obsession with Carla.
Nathan Owens denied involvement in her murder and refused to give evidence (Image: Lancashire Police/Press Association)
The force found a mass of material on those devices, including covert pictures taken over a year, of Carla in their home, that she had no idea were being taken. Lancashire Police said the photos focussed on particular parts of Carla’s body or were of her in a nightdress.
Owens had also obtained a normal picture of Carla as a little girl and made it into an indecent image of a child.
He had created other horrific images and videos too of Carla as an adult. He also filming himself carrying out sexual acts, one in Carla’s bedroom, with what police described as an effigy of Carla.
Owens chose not to give evidence at his trial.
The student was found dead inside Ribble Hall, at the University of Lancashire campus on Victoria Street (file)(Image: MEN MEDIA)
DI Pete Macdonald, of Lancashire Police’s Major Investigation Team said: “Carla had her whole life ahead of her, which was ripped away by someone she should have been able to trust. Owens has taken Carla’s life, but he has also changed her mum’s completely. He has torn apart the family he was trusted to love.
“As Carla’s stepfather, he had the unique responsibility of being welcomed into a family. He should have respected and loved Carla as his own child. He completely abused that trust, harbouring a perverted infatuation with her, before ultimately killing her.
“Owens offending ended with the worst possible outcome – the loss of Carla’s life, but the way it began is equally as disturbing. He took innocent childhood photos and made them indecent images. Because of this, Carla’s mum has not only lost her daughter but has had some of her memories of Carla’s childhood, before she met Owens, destroyed too.
Owens kept a secret library of photos of the his stepdaughter in nightwear (Image: Lancashire Police)
“Carla was a young woman, a dedicated student who had the rest of her life to look forward to. She was happy and healthy and living a life reflective of many other 19-year-old women. What she didn’t know is that Owens had a disgusting sexual obsession with her, which led him to believe that if he couldn’t have her, no one could. He knew Carla was moving forward with her life, and he knew as part of that she was travelling to meet her new boyfriend, so he travelled to her halls, a place she should have felt safe, and brutally assaulted her before killing her. He is truly despicable.
“Nothing will bring Carla back to her mum and all those who loved her, but I hope they can take some comfort in knowing that Owens has been convicted and given a life sentence. He will rightly remain in prison for a long time.”
