A MAN accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death was “always watching her” during their relationship, a court heard.
Alberto Fioletti, 31, was “very clingy” towards his partner Stephanie Hodgkinson, described as “glued to her side, grabbing her hand and following her around”.
The defendant faces trial for the murder of Stephanie, 34, after she was found with stab wounds in her Bournemouth home.
Prosecutor Steven Perian told Bournemouth Crown Court that Fioletti stabbed Stephanie on May 12 because she had decided to break off their seven month long relationship.
In the third day of evidence, prosecution read out a statement from Stephanie’s sister, Natalie Powel.
Natalie had only met the defendant on three occasions but described feeling there was “something off about him”.
She said: “From the time that I met [Fioletti], I said to my mum that I don’t know about him. I just felt that he was a bit odd.
“He was also very clingy with my sister. I remember feeling really irritated by it, it seemed too much.
“[Stephanie] mentioned a lot that he was ‘always watching her all the time’.
“Stephanie seemed happy in her relationship, however she always said [Fioletti] was a bit narcissistic.
"She always had this word in her mind. She just kept mentioning it all the time, but she didn’t give any reason why.”
Natalie added that her sister had regularly googled narcissistic traits, and so she told her: “There’s a reason you feel like googling it. I wouldn’t ignore it.”
The court then heard how Stephanie had made a distressed phone call to Natalie on May 5 – a week before she died.
Stephanie told her she had argued with Fioletti because he was upset at the time she had spent talking to a friend.
As he walked away from the argument, he reportedly told her: “I hope you’re happy with yourself. You’re gonna have a death on your hands now.”
It was not the first time the defendant had used suicidal threats to gain sympathy and manipulate others, Mr Perian told the court.
During the phone call, Stephanie told her sister: “I’ve messed up everything. I’ve let someone into my life that I shouldn’t have let into my life. What was I thinking, thinking that someone sane would be interested in me and my baggage.”
Natalie said: “Steph said she was very scared [after the argument] and worried he would come back. I said, ‘Steph do you think he’s coming back?’ She said ‘I don’t know, the way I saw him was like it wasn’t him. I didn’t recognise him’.”
A few days later, Stephanie met with the defendant, who apologised and said he suffers from narcissistic personality disorder.
Stephanie decided she didn’t want Fioletti to be around her two children anymore and told him she needed space.
Despite this, Fioletti kept calling and messaging her, and even sent her a gift voucher for a massage, the court heard.
On Wednesday, May 10, Stephanie told her sister that she was thinking of meeting Fioletti in a public place on Friday, May 12, to break up with him.
However, on Friday, May 12, Stephanie was allegedly murdered by Fioletti in her own home.
A post-mortem examination found that Stephanie received seven stab wounds.
Fioletti has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.
The trial continues.
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