Alana Odysseos, 32, staggered into the street covered in blood and screamed for help after her boyfriend Shaine March, 47, repeatedly stabbed her then laughed about it to police
A pregnant woman was fatally stabbed by her boyfriend after refusing to have an abortion – with the killer later laughing and telling police “I did it, I regret nothing”, a court heard.
Alana Odysseos, 32, staggered into the street covered in blood after her boyfriend Shaine March, 47, launched the attack in Walthamstow, east London, in July last year. The mum-to-be was heard screaming “Shaine stabbed me” outside her home, and was pronounced dead at the scene moments later, jurors heard. Shortly before her death, the Old Bailey was told March had threatened Ms Odysseos, accused her of cheating and said the unborn child was not his.
March denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility, citing psychiatric issues. After the killing, he admitted to police that he had told Ms Odysseos to have an abortion, telling them “I did it, I killed her hahaha” and “send me to jail where I belong. I regret nothing”.
March was not the father of Ms Odysseos’ two other children, the court heard. Ms Odysseos had been seeing March for around four months and had recently found out she was pregnant with her third child. Opening March’s Old Bailey trial on Thursday, prosecutor Louise Oakley said the victim had experienced “huge personal loss” in her life, having lost two partners, who were the fathers of her two children, the court heard.
“At approximately 3am on 22 July 2024, members of the public who lived in Lynmouth Road in Walthamstow began to ring 999,” Oakley said. She told the court Ms Odysseos was found outside her home wearing a nightie and clutching her right side as she bled from “multiple stab wounds”. The mum was pointing to a man nearby, who neighbours recognised as Shaine March. The defendant walked away leaving them to commence that medical assistance.
“It was clear that she required urgent medical assistance,” Oakley added. “The police and London Ambulance Service arrived very quickly after the calls were received. But despite their very best efforts Ms Odysseos could not be saved. She died on the ground outside her home address. This defendant had stabbed her to death.”
Ms Odysseos had been in a relationship with the defendant for approximately four months on the date of her death and had recently discovered she was pregnant, Oakley told the court. “She was someone who had experienced huge personal loss following the death of two partners and fathers of her children,” she added. “She had at times tried to find peace and comfort in the use of drugs and alcohol. She was vulnerable.”
The mum told a pal that during her relationship with March, she wasn’t allowed to talk to people, had to answer her telephone at all times of the day – including video calls to prove where she was, and who she was with. She also opened up about March destroying and throwing out her daughter’s toys, and arguing about the fact Ms Odysseos had found out she was pregnant.
The prosecutor said: “She admitted that she had become scared of the defendant. There had plainly been physical violence. You will hear reference to a glass being smashed in her face. She told her sister that the defendant accused her of cheating on him, that he made her delete telephone numbers of any male contacts in her phone.
“On one occasion, she had showed her sister voice notes on WhatsApp that the defendant had sent her, they were of him shouting and threatening to get her little girl taken away from her, calling her all sorts of derogatory names, and saying that their unborn child was not his and she should get an abortion. As a result, her sister tried to persuade her to leave him. But Alana said she loved him. He promised Alana he would change.”
March appeared in the dock today wearing a white skull cap and blue Covid style face mask, assisted by an intermediary. The trial, before Mr Justice Murray, continues and is set to last three weeks.