Bitter ex GUILTY of murdering missing mum-of-five Sarah Wellgreen – and only he knows where her body is
A BITTER ex who killed mum-of-five Sarah Wellgreen and dumped her body so it still hasn’t been found one year on has been found guilty of her murder.
Ben Lacomba, 39, had been locked in an tense custody battle with the beautician when he murdered her at their home in October last year.
Sarah, 46, had found love with a new man and was planning to buy Lacomba out of their four-bedroom property in New Ash Green, Kent.
But the taxi driver took her life in an ‘premeditated and calculated’ killing while trying to cover his tracks in a desperate bid to escape justice.
Lacomba denied murder but a jury at Woolwich Crown Court saw through his lies.
Neil James, Sarah’s partner, celebrated the verdict outside court and said he hopes Lacomba “rots in jail”.
LAST SIGHTINGS
Sarah was last seen alive at around 8pm on October 9 last year, when she pulled into a car park near her home and walked in her front door pushing a child’s bike.
Lacomba was waiting inside had already turned off CCTV cameras covering the property.
The trial heard he had “unusually and quite deliberately” left his red taxi with a distinctive All Night Cars logo in a second car park so he would not be spotted by neighbours.
In the hours after the murder his Vauxhall Zafira was captured at eight different locations between 2.13am and 4.27am as he travelled to and from his home.
Police believe he disposed of Sarah’s body during this time but despite extensive trawls of nearby rivers and woodland have never found her remains.
Her car, car keys, house keys, purse, money, bank cards and all her clothing were all left behind at the property. Her phone has never been recovered.
Lacomba, who is father to three of Sarah’s children, claimed he had been asleep at the time of the murder and later told cops Sarah had a “weird life” and was “seeing a lot of men” in the hope of shifting blame.
But one of his children later told officers they had woken in the middle of the night and couldn’t find either parent.
The killer’s mum later told police he threw his Samsung phone into the Thames following a visit by detectives four days after Sarah’s disappearance.
He initially agreed to hand over his phone. But when he was asked to authorise the download of deleted data, he was said to have replied: “Why would I want you to have deleted stuff when I have deleted it for a reason?”
His mother Maryln said: “After they’d gone, he was agitated and said he needed it for his work and also it had nastiness on it from the custody court case and it was private.”
The next day, Lacomba asked for £300 and bought an identical phone from Cash Converters.
The court heard Lacomba’s car was clean on the day of Sarah’s disappearance, but had mud splattered on both sides the following morning. It was them professionally cleaned by midday.
He was also said to have bought a large shovel despite having a paved garden with fake grass and small flower beds.
‘TELL US WHERE SHE IS’
Sarah’s boyfriend Neil James, 46, said the couple were planning to marry in Spain before she disappeared.
In her some of her final text messages the night before her death, she wrote to him about rows with Mr Lacomba after finding out she had landed a new job.
She said: “Just feel that a whole weight has been lifted and then that fat t**t says ‘oh you won’t be able to get benefits for the kids’.
“He has been very quiet since I have got back. Hmmm, the truth hurts.”
She added at 9.10pm: “Just want the house to myself now.”
Speaking outside the courtroom, Neil James said he was “relieved” after a jury found Ben Lacomba, 39, guilty of murdering Ms Wellgreen.
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He said: “It is relief for the family and especially for the kids. It is a relief for all of her friends. The right decision has been made and hopefully he will let us know where her body is.
“Only this morning my daughter was asking where her mummy was.
“Let’s hope he [Lacomba] rots inside.”