A WOMAN accused of murdering an army veteran in Andover has been found guilty following a 12-week trial.

Winter Swan-Miller, who faced trial at Winchester Crown Court, was charged with the murder of Stuart Maxwell Crocker.

On Monday, August 5, she was found guilty of murder after the jury deliberated for 10 hours spread across three days. 

As previously reported, 62-year-old Mr Crocker was found dead at The Signals, in New Street, Andover, on June 28, last year.

Police investigations found that Mr Crocker might have been killed in the early hours of June 23, but was only discovered five days later when a neighbour phoned 999 concerned for his welfare.

After the killing Swan-Miller went on a run before she was arrested a week later.

Edward Jones, of Lancaster Avenue, Walsall, was a co-defendant in the case for allegedly providing accommodation and social media access for Swan-Miller for one week from June 23, 2023.

However, the jury found Jones not guilty of the charge against him.

He was also found not guilty of using Mr Crocker's debit card to withdraw money during Swan-Miller's stay with him.

The jury found Swan-Miller guilty of using Mr Crocker's debit card to withdraw money.

The case: 

Swan-Miller lived at The Signals in Andover with Mr Crocker.

During the trial, the court heard that having killed Mr Crocker she arranged his body, covering it with blankets and leaving a fan on at his head.

The prosecution said she used the fan in an attempt to keep Mr Crocker's body cool and prevent early discovery, should there be a smell outside the flat.

She then cleaned up and went ‘on the run’ for several days before the body was discovered and police came looking for her. 

After the killing, she went to Birmingham, taking with her Mr Crocker’s bank card. 

When there she presented herself at the address of a friend and asked if he could put her up for a while. He said that he couldn’t but suggested his friend, Edward Jones, who he thought might help. 

Mr Jones allowed her to stay and they spent seven days together, prior to Swan-Miller's arrest. 

The court was shown evidence of videos and pictures which Swan-Miller took on Mr Jones' mobile phone of them together as well as videos in which he is present in the background.

In the days following his death, she made a number of statements about killing Mr Crocker in communication with friends as well as in videos both posted and intended to be posted on the social media platform TikTok. 

In the videos, she admitted having stabbed him to death and described herself as a “bad girl”. 

The prosecution claimed that Mr Jones must have been aware that she had committed an offence and was, effectively, ‘on the run’. 

They said he helped her – providing accommodation for her and the use of his phone as well as taking part in the use of the bank card she had taken from Mr Crocker to take money out of his account at a cash machine. 

Eventually, Swan-Miller was found and she and Mr Jones were arrested and subsequently charged. 

Rebecca Oldfield was the police officer in charge and Detective Sergeant Karl Holmes was the receiver. 

The trial

The trial at Winchester Crown Court lasted just more than 12 weeks, with Nicola Shannon KC and Lisa Bald appearing for the prosecution.

Gurdeep Garcha KC and Adam Western represented Swan-Miller, while Zafar Ali KC and Nick Robinson appeared for Mr Jones.

Giving evidence, Swan-Miller said she acted in self-defence after being subjected to repeated rapes by Mr Crocker. 

She described her relationship with Mr Crocker as 'tumultuous,' she claimed that she was subjected to numerous sexual assaults and that she stabbed Crocker while he was attempting to rape her on the night in question.

Mr Jones claimed that he didn't know about Swan-Miller's background during the time she stayed with him. He also said he didn't know that the debit card belonged to Mr Crocker.

The verdict

Guilty verdicts against Swan-Miller were delivered on Monday, August 5.

Swan-Miller, attending the hearing over a video link from her prison, looked unmoved.

Mr Jones also remained calm, but he told the Advertiser outside the courtroom that he was "really tense".

Judge Angela Morris said she would announce the sentencing date and other details of the verdict on Tuesday, August 6.

Swan-Miller was told to attend the court in person for the judge's pronouncement of the verdict.

The judge told Mr Jones that he was free to go and he had the right to seek compensation for attending the trial.