A 49-year-old man killed his housemate 10 days before confessing the crime to a tarot card reader after she turned over a "death" card, Lewes crown court has heard.
Star Randel-Hanson, 49, visited Jayne Braiden, a tarot card reader, and admitted he'd done something "terrible", according to Solent News. She then called 999 to speak to the police, but was diverted to the non-emergency 101 line. They had to wait just under an hour for the police to arrive.
Braiden told the court that the first card she turned over was the "blasted tower", which signified "lots of arguments, lots of bad feelings". Then she turned over "emperor", which signified a "dominant male". Finally, she turned over the "death card".
According to the local Argus newspaper, she told the court she said she could "see that something really bad has happened and that we need to discuss this further".
Randel-Hanson replied: "It's really bad," jurors heard.
"I said to him we need to talk about everything that has happened," she went on, "And that is when he told me. ... He said that he had killed him."
Police officers then went to Randel-Hanson's flat. They found the body of his housemate, Derick Marney, slumped against a radiator in the kitchen, and a knife on the floor.
Randel-Hanson stabbed Marney to death before leaving him on the floor on 4 May this year. He admitted to police that he caused the death when they interviewed him, but denied murder.
He said the pair had been arguing about his plans to go to London to find work when he had turned around and accidentally stabbed Marney. They were not partners, but had previously shared a bed. Randel-Hanson also claimed Marney had sexually abused him three times.
Although the police had not deemed Braiden's call an emergency, the reader insisted it was, so it was upgraded to a "grade two" call. It took 55 minutes for the police to arrive at her shop while she kept him talking. She said: "We changed subjects and laughed at the time police were taking."