THE man accused of murdering Heather Barnett in Bournemouth in 2002 repeatedly said he did not see murdered teenager Elisa Claps in Italy after they parted company at a church, Winchester Crown Court heard this morning.

The prosecution team claims that the death of Elisa Claps, 16, in Potenza in November 1993 and that of Ms Barnett were so “strikingly similar” that the same man was responsible.

Danilo Restivo, 39, of Chatsworth Road, Charminster, denies killing mum-of-two Ms Barnett.

This morning, the trial heard statements that Restivo made to Italian police and to a television journalist in Italy in 1993, as well as evidence given in an Italian court in 1995.

In a witness statement to police on September 13, 1993, the day after schoolgirl Elisa disappeared, Restivo said he met her at a church on the morning of the previous day, but insisted she left after around 15 minutes and he stayed for a further 10 to pray.

In a second statement to the office of the public prosecutor on September 21, Restivo said: “Elisa went away, going through the church. Before going she told me she was supposed to be at her country property by 12 noon.”

Speaking to the television reporter, he added: “She was worried, in fact she invited me herself to go inside the church.”

He continued: “She told me that she had been pestered by a young man.”

Restivo said Elisa had rejected his romantic advances earlier that year and he had confided in her about problems he was having with another girl.

In all three statements, he described leaving the church at around noon. He said he later fell down some steps near a building site, injuring his hand, arm, ankle and hip.

His hand was bleeding after a small piece of sheet metal got stuck in it, so he wrapped it in his jacket, he claimed.

Restivo added in his September 21 interview: “There’s nothing I can say about Elisa’s disappearance.”

Asked in 1995 if Elisa had been bothered by his persistence, he said: “I don’t know, I never noticed. I never persisted, in July (1993) she said ‘no’ full stop; we remained friends.”

He said it was her that invited him inside the church, he had wanted to talk outside.

Earlier in the trial Winchester Crown Court was told that Elisa Claps’ remains were found in the loft of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity last year.

The trial continues.