Woman found sister's body and knifeman, jury told
Family photoA woman has described running out of a house in fear after finding her sister's body and a man holding a large knife.
In a police video played at Winchester Crown Court, Arleta Derkacz said she discovered her sister dead in a bedroom after Stephen Sexton claimed she was not in the property.
Sexton, from Totton, Hampshire, denies raping and murdering 37-year-old Joanna Derkacz at her home in Waterlooville in December 2023 shortly after she had broken up with him.
The 39-year-old, of Cherrywood Gardens, also denies behaving in a coercive or controlling manner.
Prosecutors allege Derkacz was murdered during the early hours of 28 December 2023.
Her body was found by her sister at the house in Nevinson Way later that morning.
In the taped interviews, Arleta Derkacz said Joanna told her Sexton had previously tried to choke her and that she "couldn't breathe".
The witness also told the police she came down the stairs after seeing her sister's body and found Sexton holding a "big kitchen knife".
She claimed he then said: "You're not leaving".
The jury heard her tell detectives: "I just saw my sister being dead. He had nothing to lose; he'd just killed my sister.
"He could have followed me upstairs and stabbed me".
The court heard she was pulled out of the house by her partner. She said she was "petrified" and "didn't look back".
Post-mortem examinations found fractures in Joanna Derkacz's neck, the jury previously heard.
Sexton's defence team disputes the timing of the fractures, and claims they could have occurred during further medical examinations.
The trial is expected to last several weeks.
