A film director who was allegedly stabbed to death by her sister in her north London flat fled the Six-Day War as a 12-year-old girl, a court has heard.
Jennifer Abbott, 69, was found dead in Mornington Place, Camden, on June 13 with gaffer tape covering her mouth and wearing just her knickers.
It is claimed that Nancy Pexton, 70, slit her throat and stole a diamond-encrusted Rolex worth £70,000 – shutting Ms Abbott’s corgi, Prince, in the kitchen where he was found alive three days later.
A neighbour had broken down the door after Ms Abbott, a film director and author also known as Sarah Steinberg, did not answer to Pexton’s daughter, who Pexton had asked to go round to the flat after a call from Ms Abbott’s son.
The court previously heard from Ms Abott’s son Brad Carlson about the ‘bubbling’ resentment between his mother and aunt.
Giving evidence via video-link, Mr Carlson had said: ‘There was interaction and sometimes anger and hostility between my mother and Nancy, there was resentment seemingly bubbling up.’
Pexton, who is nine months younger than her sister, denies murder.
Ms Abbott’s and Pexton’s nephew Feras Abu-Kait gave evidence today assisted by an Arabic interpreter.
The court heard that when Mr Abu-Kait was born and Ms Abbott was 12 years old they lived in the Middle East.
He said Ms Abbott carried him in her arms as they fled to Kuwait during the 1967 Six Day War – adding Ms Abbott brought him up alongside his grandmother.
Mr Abu-Kait explained Ms Abbott got married in Kuwait and gave birth to her son, Brad. She and her husband and son then left Kuwait to move to the US.
He added that Pexton had her daughter Mai when she was in Kuwait but they left to go to the UK when Mai was one year old.
Mr Abu-Kait remained in Kuwait before moving to Jordan but he remained in regular contact with Ms Abbott and she visited him.
Pexton also visited Mr Abu-Kait in Jordan but their contact besides this was limited, the court heard.
Previously, Mr Carlson told jurors he had received a number of messages from Pexton expressing her ‘anger and resentment and furiousness’ towards Ms Abbott.
Mr Carlson said: ‘She was angry – I think there was at times a feeling of disrespect.
‘I think a feeling that she was unappreciated and that my mother had not shown gratitude for some of the things Nancy had done and been there for her.’
The victim’s diamond-encrusted gold Rolex watch was missing when she was found and was later recovered from Pexton’s belongings after she was admitted to hospital, jurors previously heard.
Mr Carlson, who bought his mother the Rolex, said he ‘wanted people to get along’ and encouraged them to make ‘peace’.
He said: ‘I, at times, was very honest with my mother. I asked my mother to be more gentle and sometimes more careful in her words. Sometimes people need to be treated more gently.’
He added that he felt ’empathy’ and ‘love’ for Nancy.
The court also previously heard Ms Abbott had told her nephew she thought Pexton was ‘capable of anything’, and that she feared for her safety.
She allegedly told Mr Abu-Kait that Pexton had attempted to murder two of her boyfriends and hired two people to beat up someone called David.
Ms Abbott also asked her nephew if she should apply for a restraining order and even wrote a note about it on a scrap of paper, jurors previously heard.
On June 10, the defendant called her sister nine times, the final call lasting just over 15 minutes.
Bill Boyce KC, prosecuting, said it was ‘no coincidence’ Ms Abbott was not seen or heard from after she took her corgi dog, Prince, for a walk that morning.
He alleged Pexton was the last person to see her alive having fatally attacked her in her home and leaving just before 2pm.
Pexton was arrested on June 18 after the discovery of her sister’s watch in her bag, having initially been treated as a witness.
She said she had overdosed in the aftermath of Ms Abbott’s death and went to hospital, where she was subsequently detained.
Pexton denied killing her sister and claimed Ms Abbott had given her the Rolex to ‘keep for her’, jurors heard.
The defendant, who was homeless at the time of the crime, claims she only visited Ms Abbott on the day of her death to pick up pills to help her depression, suggesting a local drug dealer may have been responsible for the murder.
Pexton, of Gloucester Place, Marylebone, told medical staff that she is ‘half Jewish, half Italian’.
The trial continues.
