Murderer Stephen Todd makes dramatic courtroom confession to killing Melissa Eastick in Sunderland
by Rob Kennedy · ChronicleLiveA murderer is facing a life sentence for leaving his ex with more than 100 injuries including cigarette burns after dramatically changing his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial.
Stephen Todd subjected vulnerable Melissa Eastick to a series of savage attacks in his home which left her fatally injured. Todd, who had been released from prison for attacking Melissa just weeks earlier, had denied murder. But after consulting with his legal team before the second day of his trial began, he pleaded guilty.
Todd, 41, faces a mandatory life sentence and a judge will have to determine what minimum term he must serve behind bars before he can be considered for parole. He will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.
Newcastle Crown Court heard it was just after 7am on October 17 last year when Todd called 999 to say he couldn't wake up 36-year-old Melissa and that she was not breathing in his home in Stockton Terrace, Sunderland. When ambulance workers turned up, he said he had seen her the night before and that she was "alright yesterday".
But opening the case on Tuesday, Peter Glenser KC, prosecuting, said: "The Crown say that, like a great deal of what he was to say over the days that followed, was a lie. There was no way she was alright the day before.
"It very quickly became apparent that there was very extensive bruising and swelling to Melissa Eastick’s body and face, and that she was very cold to the touch. On examination, it was obvious that she was dead and her life was formally pronounced as extinct at 7.14am that morning.
"As you will hear, it appears that her death was neither quick nor easy. She had sustained more than 100 injuries, probably nearer 123, in the time leading up to her death, comprising a combination of severe bruises, abrasions, and lacerations.
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Mr Glenser said Melissa was a "frail and vulnerable individual with a history of chronic alcohol misuse". He told the jury: "As I say, she had in the days prior to her death incurred a series of consecutive injuries, culminating in the infliction of a brain injury which would have rendered her profoundly unconscious for some days before her death.
"The other injuries identified include facial bruising, fractured ribs, fractured vertebra and cigarette burns to her torso."
Mr Glenser added: "The Crown’s case is that Miss Eastick was repeatedly assaulted over a period of some days and that these assaults took place in the defendant’s flat. He, we say, is responsible for her death and that he meant to either kill her or at the very least cause really serious harm and she died as a result of that harm."
The court heard Todd and Melissa had been in an on-off "turbulent" relationship since 2018 and they both had issues with alcohol. Melissa was last seen alive on October 2, with Todd at Asda. However on October 6 she received a sales call, which was recorded. That was the last "proof of life", the court heard.
The prosecution say it is unlikely she left the flat after October 2. A subsequent search of the flat revealed significant blood staining throughout.
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