The former girlfriend of Andre Hypolite told Supreme Court this morning how he turned up at her house with blood on him like someone had cut him, on the same date that he allegedly murdered Nicholas Dill.

Lisa Caines, 45, said Hypolite "looked like he was terrified" at the time.

She went on to tell the jury hearing his trial that she refused to let Hypolite into her Raynor's Drive, Southampton, home. He asked her to call his brothers and then walked away, but she did not know who he was talking about.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke described during her opening speech yesterday how Mr. Dill, 43, was allegedly stabbed in the back by Hypolite during a drug-and-sex session involving them and Mr. Dill's girlfriend, Stacey Pike, on Boxing Day 2004.

He is further accused of seriously wounding Ms Pike by chopping her in the head, but denies both murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Ms Pike, 37, took the witness stand after Ms Caines late this morning, and told the jury she and Mr. Dill had been in a relationship for three years before his death.

She began to explain how she encountered Hypolite in Warwick in the early hours of the date in question when she was out looking for drugs to buy. She invited him back to the home she shared with Mr. Dill in Pearman's Hill, Warwick.

Her testimony is set to continue this afternoon.

See tomorrow's Royal Gazette for full coverage