Husband charged with Shana murder, refused bail

A JUDGE has turned down an application for bail by a man accused of brutally killing his estranged wife, Rugby mother Shana Tanesia Cover.

Owen Williams was first arrested and questioned after 34-year-old Shana’s body was found at her home in Morton Gardens on August 21.

Williams, of Grizedale, Brownsover, was then granted bail before being arrested again six days later and charged with her murder.

After magistrates committed his case to Warwick Crown Court, 50-year-old Williams appeared in the dock for bail to be considered.

Prosecutor Malcolm Morse said Williams, who came to the UK in 1999 and returned on two successive student visas, had married Shana, who had a son, in September 2007.

He said: “They had separated, and we believe she died in her flat, to which she had moved following the separation, probably on August 14, although her body was not found until a week later on the 21st.”

Mr Morse explained that was based on a belief that Shana’s phone had last been used by her on August 14 – and in the following week there was concern when she missed a meeting and did not turn up for her job as a cleaner at St Cross Hospital.

The police were informed, and after forcing their way into her flat they found her body, which had been subjected to a substantial attack.

Mr Morse said Williams was arrested at the Harvester in Leicester Road, Rugby, where he worked as a chef.

He was released on bail before being arrested again and charged with Shana’s murder.

Asking for bail, Sharon Bahia, defending, said Williams, who ‘has a home and a mortgage,’ had fully co-operated with the police since his arrest, and had remained after being granted bail following his original arrest.

But Judge Richard Griffith-Jones refused bail and remanded Williams in custody.

At the request of the prosecutor, the judge ordered the prosecution papers to be served on the defence lawyers by October 10, prior to a plea and case management hearing on November 21.

Mr Morse pointed out the ‘custody time limit’ - the period a defendant can be kept in custody before standing trial - expired in February next year.

But he said it was not possible to ask for a trial date to be set because it was not known how long it would take for ‘a quantity of scientific evidence of various kinds to be assembled,’ including comparisons of mobile phone cell-site locations.

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