true crime

A man killed his girlfriend, then told her children the blood on the walls was 'just ketchup'.

WARNING: This post deals with issues of domestic abuse and descriptions of violence that may be triggering for some readers.

When 26-year-old Natasha Wake discovered her on-again-off-again boyfriend, solider Jay Nava, 27, was being investigated by police for his involvement in a sexual assault in October last year, she confronted him.

What followed was a vicious attack: Natasha, a bank teller, was left dead in her Bournemouth, England home after the argument, and Jay has now been found guilty of the mother-of-two’s murder.

Natasha was murdered in October last year. Image via Facebook.

Natasha - who started dating the soldier in 2013 - was stabbed 11 times during the attack, with such force that six of the wounds went through her torso and out of her back.

During Jay's murder trial, the court was told that one of Natasha's children - who were both asleep upstairs - was "woken by a scream" and came downstairs to investigate what was happening.

"She saw [Jay] in the kitchen. He had a knife in his trousers," Prosecutor Sally Howes QC told the court.

"She saw Natasha lying on the floor in the lounge with a blanket covering her. [She told police] the blanket had big, medium, and small red dots on, there was red on the walls."

The court heard Jay told the young girl to "go upstairs and don't come back down", and handed her an orange juice.

"In the morning she asked why he had a knife in his trousers and why Natasha was on the floor. He said they were being silly, Natasha was asleep and it was ketchup on the walls," Howes said.

After her death, Jay wrapped his girlfriend in a blanket, and put her body in a cupboard under the stairs.

He then drove the two children to his grandparents' home, called his mum in Australia to confess to the murder, and wrote notes explaining that he was planning to take his own life.

Jay Nava
Jay Nava has been found guilty of Natasha's murder. Image via Dorset Police.
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In one note, Jay apologised to Natasha's mother, Shelley, for what he had done.

"Tasha died at 11...She was the only person that I loved and loved me," he wrote.

"Shelley, I'm sorry for hurting your daughter. I'll take my own life soon, I loved her. Why I did this is beyond me..."

"Jay Nava lost control of his temper and subjected Natasha to a brutal and sustained attack," Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Derbyshire, of Dorset Police's Major Crime Investigation Team, said outside of court.

"His violent actions that day have very sadly left two young children without their mother. I hope the verdict of the jury today will bring some small comfort to her family that Nava will now be facing a lengthy prison sentence."

He is due to be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court this week.

For 24-hour assistance please call the National National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT (that's 1800 737 732).

If you need someone to talk to, you can call BeyondBlue on 1300 22 4636.