Murder trial: Neighbours tell of grim discovery at Wombwell home

Jill Hibberd (73) was found dead at her home on Roy Kilner Road, Wombwell, on the morning of Thursday, May 31, by neighbours Anthony O’Connell and Susan Spencer.

Lee Fueloep (40), of Willow Garth, Wombwell, is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court where he denies her murder. 

The prosecution say Fueloep stabbed Ms Hibberd “savagely and repeatedly” before stealing her Audi TT and selling it to buy drugs. Fueloep claims he had found her dead when he attended at her home and was too scared to contact police because he was a known burglar.

Ms Hibberd, who managed massage parlour Fantasia in Attercliffe, suffered 70 stab wounds.

Giving evidence yesterday (Thursday), the neighbours said Ms Hibberd’s door had been unlocked and as they entered her home they noticed a plant strewn across the floor and coasters knocked off the coffee table.

Mr O’Connell said as he had entered the living room he couldn’t see Ms Hibberd straight away.

“Her body was pressed up against the sofa in that recess in the wall,” he said.

“She had shorts on and she had like a vest top which had ridden up a little bit at the bottom.”

Prosecutor Ms Kama Melly asked: “Were you able to see that she had obvious signs of injury?”

Mr O’Connell replied: “I knew by looking at the amount of blood she was dead and had been dead for a while.”

Giving evidence Mrs Spencer said: “As Tony was saying; ‘Ring 999’, that’s when I saw Jill’s body.”

Mrs Spencer said it was clear she was dead.

Her husband Peter Spencer told jurors he remembered Ms Hibberd’s Audi being driven away at speed at 9pm on May 30.

“It was a bit erratic and it drove off particularly quickly,” Mr Spencer said

Mr Spencer said he had told his wife about what he had seen when he got up for work at 5am the following morning.

Mrs Spencer told jurors she and her husband had noticed that Ms Hibberd’s lights were still on and her car had not returned.

Mrs Spencer said. “She [Ms Hibberd] was a bit of a creature of habit and the lights were never on overnight.

“I had an instinctive feeling that something wasn’t right.”

Mrs Spencer said this had prompted her to check on her neighbour with Mr O’Connell, who had been putting his bins out when she went outside.

Sgt Rebecca Fleming, who was one of the first police officers on the scene, said in a statement there had “clearly been a disturbance in the property”.

“The coffee table looked like it had been moved and it was at an angle in the middle of the room,” said Sgt Fleming.

“I noticed blood stains on the rug and I noticed the rug had also been moved.”

Sgt Fleming said Ms Hibberd’s body was lying on its side with a large pool of blood near her head and neck.

Fueloep denies murder. The trial continues.