Blood belonging to Lorraine Cox was found in the Exeter bedroom of the man accused of her murder, a forensic expert has told a jury.
Failed asylum seeker Azam Mangori, aged 24, denies murdering Miss Cox in September 2020, but admits and preventing the lawful burial of her body.
Exeter Crown Court on Thursday (March 11) heard how Miss Cox’s DNA was found on bags, knives and a handsaw recovered by police searching Mangori’s room above a kebab shop, in Mary Arches Street, and the property’s bins.
Forensic scientist Michael Wheelhouse, called in by Devon and Cornwall Police investigators, said he could not confirm how Miss Cox died or where her body was dismembered.
He said, from his examination of scene, there were no findings Miss Cox had been assaulted at the property.
Traces of the dead woman’s blood were found on Mangori’s discarded duvet cover and his mattress, the court heard.
It was also discovered on plastic sheeting which Mangori was seen buying from Wilko in the days after Miss Cox was reported missing, which was found by police in an alleyway bin behind the kebab house.
Mr Wheelhouse said Miss Cox’s blood had been found on the far wall of Mangori’s room and an area of carpet.
Miss Cox’s blood matched DNA found on two knives and a handsaw recovered by police, the jury was told.
The forensic expert said DNA on these items linked Mangori to disposing of Miss Cox’s body.
Mr Wheelhouse told the jury: “This is what I would expect if that saw had been used to dismember Lorraine Cox.
“There was also blood that could originate from Lorraine Cox on the bags wrapped around the saw.”
He added: “It’s my opinion that Azam Mangori had used the saw to dismember Lorraine Cox.”
Mr Wheelhouse told the court: “From my examination of 166 Fore Street, in my opinion there was no finding that Lorraine Cox was assaulted at the property.
“Similarly, there was no finding where Lorraine Cox was when she was dismembered.
“However, in my opinion, there was some action that occurred in bedroom one on the second-floor of that property.
“There was blood matching that of Lorraine Cox that became airborne.
“I am not able to determine what action it may be that caused the blood of Lorraine Cox to become airborne.”
The court heard there was no scientific evidence to assist if Mangori had assaulted Miss Cox when she was alive.
When Miss Cox’s body was recovered by police, she was found with her T-shirt stuffed into her mouth.
The forensic expert said Mangori’s DNA had been found on bags containing Miss Cox’s body parts, which were recovered by police from bins in an alleyway at the kebab house and buried in woodland on the outskirts of Exeter.
Mangori’s DNA linked him to tying up black bags of body parts recovered by police from bins in the alleyway and to remains found buried at Tin Pitt Hill, near Newton St Cyres.
Mr Wheelhouse said there was no forensic evidence linking anyone else to the items recovered by police.
Miss Cox was reported missing after she failed to return home after a night out with friends on August 30, 2020.
CCTV images seized by police showed Mangori ‘home in’ on a drunken Miss Cox as she walked alone through Exeter High Street in the early hours of September 1, leading her into an alleyway where they engaged in a sexual encounter.
Footage showed the pair go into the Bodrum Kebab House building, where Mangori had a room above the takeaway.
It was the last time Miss Cox was seen alive.
The court has heard that, on September 1, Mangori used Miss Cox’s SIM card in his mobile phone, posing as the missing woman to send messages to her family and friends, telling them she was safe and had moved to Plymouth.
When a police investigation to trace the missing woman led officers to Mangori, he told officers he was called Christopher Mayer and had never met Miss Cox.
In the days after Miss Cox disappeared, CCTV footage showed Mangori make multiple trips to the city centre to buy black bin bags, plastic sheeting, gaffer tape, plus an air purifier and heater.
The trial continues.
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