A ‘sexually obsessed' stepfather accused of murdering a 19-year-old student can be pictured for the first time after a court was played footage of his arrest.
asserted
court → obsess → arrest
Nathan Owens, 34, allegedly strangled Carla Georgescu in February after driving more than 100 miles through the night to her student halls in Preston, Lancashire.
uncertain
Owens → strangle → Preston
Prosecutors claim his actions were driven by 'sexual jealousy' after learning the second-year clinical psychology student planned to meet a man she had been romantically involved with online.
uncertain
she → claim → man
His 'escalating fascination' with Carla included having sex with a life-sized 'effigy' of his teenage stepdaughter which he had clothed in her nightdress, the trial has heard.
asserted
trial → escalate → nightdress
Carla – wearing a fluffy dressing gown and pyjamas – was seen on CCTV letting Owens into Ribble Hall, her block of student flats at the University of Lancashire, at around 4am on February 4, his head hidden by a patterned blanket.
asserted
head → wear → blanket
He was captured leaving the building around an hour-and-a-half later, 'shielding' himself with an umbrella and wearing a face-mask while wearing Carla's trainers and carrying two bags.
asserted
He → capture → bags
Owens then drove back home to Hartlepool, allegedly stopping en route to dump items including bedding later found to contain traces of Carla’s DNA.
uncertain
Owens → drive → DNA
His wife, Janina Georgescu, has told jurors he did not mention having been to see her daughter in the night when she awoke later that morning.
asserted
she → tell → night
Nathan Owens, 34, was arrested on suspicion of murdering his stepdaughter, Carla Georgescu, 19, in police bodycam footage played at his murder trial at Preston Crown Court
Carla Georgescu, 19, a second-year clinical psychology student at the University of Lancashire, was allegedly strangled and murdered by her stepfather Nathan Owens
Carla Georgescu, in a fluffy dressing gown, caught on CCTV letting her stepfather Nathan Owens, 34, into her university accommodation in Preston at around 4am on February 4, 2026, with his face covered by a blanket
Owens captured leaving the building around an hour-and-a-half later, 'shielding' himself with an umbrella and wearing a face-mask while wearing Carla's trainers and carrying two bags.
uncertain
Owens → arrest → bags
Her body was found the following day after her mother Janina called the university
She became worried when Carla did not respond to her messages and phone calls, and the following day – which would have been Carla's 20th birthday – she contacted university security.
asserted
she → find → security
They carried out a welfare check and discovered her body slumped against a wardrobe door with a belt around her neck.
asserted
body → carry → neck
Officers called to the couple’s home later on February 5 and told them ‘it looks like she has hung herself’, jurors were told on Thursday.
asserted
jurors → call → Thursday
Hours later, Owens was said to be carrying out web searches about how police investigate suspicious deaths and wiping his electronic devices.
asserted
police → say → devices
Further searches included ‘police misinformed us about the cause of death’ and ‘accident or homicide’, the trial was told.
asserted
trial → include → death
Later that evening a local officer returned to ask Owens about his visit to her flat on the night she was last seen alive, recording the encounter on his body-worn camera.
asserted
she → return → camera
Within half an hour, Owens had downloaded ‘eraser’ software onto his computer, with ‘multiple deletion events’ taking place overnight along with a factory reset of his mobile phone, the court heard.
asserted
court → download → phone
On the evening of February 6, Owens carried out more web searches including ‘I think the police think I’m guilty’ and ‘when police turn on their bodycam you are guilty’, the jury were told.
asserted
jury → carry → bodycam
The jury was shown footage of Owens and Carla both looking at their phones during a dinner
Preston Crown Court was shown footage of Owens walking towards the block of student flats with a patterned blanket over his head shortly before his stepdaughter was 'murdered'
Carla's body was found at her University of Lancashire accommodation, Ribble Hall in Preston, on February 5 after her mother raised the alarm
Another search queried whether ‘cops intentionally try to trick people into confessing to something’.
asserted
cops → show → something
Footage played to his trial at Preston Crown Court shows the moment officers from Lancashire arrive at his house to arrest him on suspicion of murder the following day.
asserted
officers → play → murder
Owens looks impassive and nods as he is cautioned before being handcuffed and led away.
asserted
he → look → ?
Before his arrest, Owens told Ms Georgescu he went to Preston that night because Carla had wanted him to take incontinence pants to her and help her tidy her room.
But the prosecution say this was an attempt to 'cover his tracks' and 'keep his wife onside', and that the truth is that he brutally attacked Carla before fleeing the scene, dumping evidence and attempting to cover his tracks.
asserted
he → tell → tracks
The prosecution allege he had become 'sexually fixated' with Carla and her death was the culmination of weeks, months and perhaps years of a 'one-sided sexual obsession'.
asserted
death → allege → obsession
He is also said to have taken photos of Carla without her knowledge, filmed himself having sex with her dolls and toys, and manipulated an innocent image of her so it appeared sexual.
asserted
it → say → her
Owens denies charges of murder, intentional strangulation and grievous bodily harm with intent.
asserted
Owens → deny → intent
The trial continues.
asserted
trial → continue → ?
The Aporia
