Monster who strangled mum to death after sex then left half naked body for her son to find is jailed
A MONSTER strangled a mum to death after sex then left her half naked body for her son to find on the living room floor.
Adam Watson, 37, brutally attacked Samantha Holden, 56, before stealing her phone and fleeing to Belgium.
The mum-of-two’s teen son came home to find her “lifeless and partially clothed” body on the living room floor.
Samantha had suffered 47 separate areas of bruising during the horror in Farnborough, Hampshire, and there were signs of a “prolonged struggle”.
Watson later admitted he had slapped the mum after she “smirked” during sex but denied murdering her.
He has now been locked up for 21 years after jurors saw through his web of lies.
In a powerful victim impact statement, Samantha’s daughter Rebecca Elliott said: “Not only do Tom and I have to live without our mum, but the manner in which she dies continues to haunt me.
“The thought of my mum having such a difficult last moment and then being left on a cold slab where people poked and prodded at her broke my heart.
“I just wanted to put her body to rest.
“Her time was cut short, my time with her was cut short and I will never get that time with her.
“She was my best friend, soul mate, and most importantly my mum who I will no longer be able to share my life with.”
Winchester Crown Court heard Samantha was a sex worker but had always been “cautious and particular about her clientele”.
She had met with Watson a number of times and therefore “trusted” the killer.
Watson arrived at her home at 12.45pm on September 9, 2022, before leaving just 50 minutes later.
During this time, the monster had strangled and suffocated Samantha, who would have been “fighting” to keep breathing in the moments before she was killed.
Prosecutor Anna Vigars KC said: “It must have been very obvious to her that she was going to die unless the hold around her neck…whatever it was at that point stopping her breathing was released.
“She didn’t use violence other than to defend herself.”
Watson was arrested two days later at a hotel in Belgium and extradited back to the UK.
His DNA was found on Samantha’s neck and fingernails, the court heard.
It can now be revealed the killer has a history of violence – including for an attack on his dad, brother and sister in 2008.
Watson also throttled a woman until she was unconscious in 2013 when she rejected his sexual advances.
Sentencing, Judge Angela Morris branded Watson “highly dangerous”.
She added: “I cannot even being to imagine the unenviable horror which must have gripped her 18 year old son Tom when he found his mother particularly clothes lying dead in the sitting room of the premises he shared with her.
“I am satisfied that when you strangled and suffocated Samantha Holden you intended to kill her.
“It would have taken time and albeit that time cannot be quantified, it would have involved a period of consciousness when Samantha Holden would have realised what you were doing to her before ultimately she succumbed to unconsciousness and then death.”