A Polish factory worker murdered his British girlfriend and burned her body in a plot with his lover and her uncle to claim a six-figure insurance payout, a court heard yesterday.
Rafal Nowak, 31, killed business analyst Catherine Wells-Burr while she slept, a jury was told.
His mistress Anna Lagwinowicz and her uncle, Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, both Polish, helped to dispose of her body, it is alleged.
Dmytryszyn drove the corpse to a field and it was set on fire using petrol, the court heard.
Miss Wells-Burr, 23, was said to have been looking forward to a future with Nowak after they bought a house together, with Aviva insurance cover on their mortgage.
The trio are accused of murdering her so Nowak could gain ownership of the property and cash in the £123,000 policy.
Prosecutors say they planted fake messages suggesting their victim was having an affair with a 'mystery man' who they hoped would be blamed for her death.
The group are said to have burned Miss Wells-Burr's body in her red Ford Focus early in the morning to allow Nowak to get to work and have an alibi.
Prosecutor Richard Smith QC said Miss Wells-Burr was probably suffocated in bed for her new-build 'smart' home in Chard, Somerset – and simply to get rid of her.
Mr Smith said: 'She thought that, in Nowak, she had a caring partner to share the new house with . . . How very sadly wrong she was.'
He said Lagwinowicz had a 'fatal attraction' to Nowak and 'absolutely despised' the dead woman.
The jury was told Nowak and Lagwinowicz struck up a relationship after he moved from Poland in 2008, leaving behind his wife and child.
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But in 2010 he met Miss Wells-Burr when she worked at a factory in her university summer break, and is said to have two-timed both women before leaving Lagwinowicz. Mr Smith said: 'Lagwinowicz was bitterly jealous and bitterly spiteful.'
Miss Wells-Burr and Nowak moved in together after she graduated from Bath Spa university. She became a business analyst for Numatic International – maker of Henry vacuum cleaners – where Nowak, her parents and sister were also employed.
Nowak is said to have then begun an affair with Lagwinowicz and hatched a plan to kill his girlfriend.
Mr Smith said: 'They were going to get rid of Catherine from the love triangle and make money out of it.'
Couple: Rafal Nowak and business analyst Catherine Wells-Burr got together after he moved to England in 2008 from Poland, leaving his wife and child behind
Mr Smith told Bristol Crown Court: 'The defendants tried to create a false trail intended to raise suspicion that Catherine was seeing, meeting with, perhaps having an affair with some unknown mystery man.
'They bought SIM cards and bought telephones to create the false exchanges,' he said.
Mr Smith added: 'When her body was found [Nowak] was in a position to be able to say she was receiving texts, she was under threat – whatever he felt would add colour, mystery and lies.'
Nowak played the role of doting boyfriend just days before Catherine's death, holding hands and kissing her in front of family members.
But police did not believe the ruse and the three were arrested.
Mr Smith said: 'They planned the murder together with the input and help of Lagwinowicz's uncle. By killing Catherine in those early hours, they knew they would secure a life insurance policy as a result, the home for Nowak - Catherine would be removed from their lives.'
He described how Lagwinowicz was 'bitterly spiteful' when she and Nowak split.
'She never got over it,' Mr Smith said. 'She never got over the loss of her Polish boyfriend to his English girlfriend. She wanted him back.
Accused: Rafal Nowak (left), his former partner Anna Lagwinowicz and her uncle Tadevsz Dmytryszyn stand in the dock at Bristol Crown Court today in this court sketch. They are accused of murder
'It seems she embarked on a path of jealousy, vindictiveness. She tried to unsettle the relationship with the new English girlfriend.
'Texts were sent, things were said - all designed, it seemed, to drive a wedge between Nowak and Catherine.
'It is that simmering discontent, a fatal attraction, that never disappeared. It is a theme of this case.'
Mr Smith added: 'These three knew Nowak had time to leave his home, get himself to the local factory where he worked and check in as the flames engulfed the car some miles away.
'In the hope of avoiding detection, the defendants tried to create a false trail intended to raise suspicion that Catherine was seeing, meeting with, perhaps having an affair with some unknown mystery man.
'To that devious end the defendants set up a false trail of text messages purported to go between Catherine and this mystery man.'
Nowak, Lagwinowicz, 32, and Dmytryszyn, 38, deny murdering Miss Wells-Burr, whose remains were discovered last September. The trial, due to last eight weeks, continues.