Man jailed for life for murder of Louise Evans
A complicated investigation came to an end this week when Keith Prest, 49, was found guilty of the murder of Louise Evans, 48, in East Sutton, near Maidstone. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
A complicated investigation came to an end this week when Keith Prest, 49, was found guilty of the murder of Louise Evans, 48, in East Sutton, near Maidstone. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.
After a five-week trial at Maidstone Crown Court, Prest will serve a minimum of 17 years before being considered for parole.
Louises body was found by her car in the staff car park of East Sutton Park womens open prison on September 12. She had been stabbed more than 40 times.
Following a large-scale man-hunt, Prest admitted himself to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.
On September 19 he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and transferred to a specialist unit at Canterbury. One week later, on September 26, a meeting involving a number of agencies discussed Prests condition and it was decided that he was fit to be discharged. He was subsequently arrested, questioned and later charged with Louise`s murder.
Louises murder sparked a major investigation and immediate search for Prest who we suspected from the very start was involved in her death, said senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector John Coull of Kent Police.
We took the highly unusual step of issuing his name and image to the media in order to try and find him as quickly as possible.
The investigation was delayed and complicated at the start because Prest had tried to harm himself and had to be deemed medically fit before he was questioned.
However, we successfully gathered evidence and pieced together the events leading up to Louise`s death. We worked closely with colleagues in partner agencies to bring Prest before the court and prove his guilt.
As the investigation unravelled, it transpired that Prest started a relationship with Louise Evans in September 2005. They had split up early in 2007 after a number of incidents when Prest was violent towards her.
Prest breached bail conditions and made numerous attempts to contact Louise before finally going to her place of work, where he killed her.
During the investigation, Prests movements in the lead up to the murder were recorded on an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) device in the Wincheap area.
A search uncovered footwear believed to belong to Prest.
Forensic analysis found both Prests and Louises blood to be on the footwear.