A 34-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering his stepdaughter in her university accommodation. Nathan Owens, from Hartlepool, killed Carla Georgescu, a 19-year-old second-year psychology student at the University of Central Lancashire, in her room at Ribble Hall in Preston, Lancashire, on 4 February. According to BBC News, a jury at Preston Crown Court delivered the guilty verdict on 22 October 2026.
The trial revealed deeply disturbing behaviour by Owens in the months preceding the killing. Prosecutors presented evidence that Owens had secretly photographed Carla and manipulated her image onto explicit pornographic material. The Sun reported that Owens had constructed a life-size effigy dressed in Carla's nightwear and filmed himself engaging in sexual acts with it, demonstrating an escalating pattern of obsessive and abusive conduct.
Carla's body was discovered in her room at Ribble Hall on 5 February. Her death was initially treated as a possible suicide before police launched a murder investigation. The prosecution alleged that the killing may have been motivated by sexual jealousy after Owens learned that Carla intended to meet her online boyfriend in Romania, according to Lancashire Live.
What evidence was presented at trial?
CCTV footage played during the trial showed Owens sharing a meal with Carla in the days before her death. Security cameras also captured him arriving at her student accommodation in the early hours of 4 February, wrapped in a blanket. Carla allowed him into the building at approximately 04:00 GMT, and he departed roughly an hour and a half later.
Prosecutors highlighted significant missing evidence during their closing submissions. The red pyjama bottoms Carla was wearing when she answered the door to Owens have never been found. Similarly, the grey trainers that Owens was observed wearing when he left the flat remain missing. Her laptop, which was disconnected from the building's WiFi at 05:19, has also never been recovered. These missing items formed part of the prosecution's case regarding the circumstances of her death.
How did the trial proceed?
Owens chose not to give evidence in his own defence. Prosecutors closed their case on Monday after Owens indicated he would not be taking the witness stand or providing any other testimony to the court. This decision meant the jury heard only the evidence presented by the prosecution without any counter-narrative from the defendant.
What happens next?
Owens is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday. The sentencing hearing will determine the length of his prison term for the murder conviction.
