Trial Begins for Joss Stone’s Murder Plot
The trial is underway in the U.K.’s Exeter Crown Court for two men accused of plotting to rob, kill and decapitate Joss Stone.
According to the Associated Press, prosecutor Simon Morgan delivered his opening statement yesterday (Mar. 18), describing how Junior Bradshaw, 32, and Kevin Liverpool, 35, planned to enter Stone’s home equipped with a samurai sword, knives, a hammer, black bags and gloves.
The pair were arrested in June 2011 after Stone’s neighbors reported suspicious behavior near her house. They did not successfully enter Stone’s house.
Morgan said that further evidence was found in the suspects’ car, handwritten notes that revealed the plot and indicated that they were upset that Stone was invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in April 2011.
Language in the notes included "decapitate," "Jocelyn RIP" and "Once Jocelyn’s dead ... find a river to dump her."
Both are denying all charges and the motive remains unclear.
Morgan said in addition to her celebrity, money may also have made Stone a target.
Born Jocelyn Eve Stoker, Joss Stone is a Grammy Award-winning, chart-topping soul singer and actress. In the U.K., she became the youngest British female to debut at number one on the U.K. Albums Charts and her estimated net worth of 10 million pounds makes her the fifth wealthiest British musician under the age of 30.
Stateside, her third studio album, Introducing Joss Stone, featured Lauryn Hill and Common and became the second highest debut for a British female, entering at the number two spot on Billboard’s 200.
Most recently, in July 2012, she released her sixth studio album, The Soul Sessions Vol. 2, and announced that she and Damian Marley are working on a reggae album.
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(Photo: Jo Hale/Getty Images)