A woman who was strangled to death by her boyfriend told her sister days before that he would choke her until she ‘couldn’t breathe’, a trial has heard.
Stephen Sexton, 39, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court charged with the rape, coercive control and murder of Joanna Derkacz, 37, at their home in Waterlooville, Hampshire, on December 28, 2023.
Ms Derkacz’s body was discovered on her bed by her sister Arleta Derkacz, who came out of the house screaming: ‘He has killed my sister’, Nicola Shannon KC, prosecuting, previously told the court.
Jurors had heard how Sexton had become increasingly controlling towards his partner for more than a year before her death, allegedly killing her when she decided to end their relationship.
They also previously heard from prosecutors how Sexton, a marine engineer and father-of-one, visited sex workers in the moments after murdering his former girlfriend as he became ‘aroused’.
Today, jurors heard evidence from Ms Derkacz’s sister, Arleta Derkacz, who said that her sister told her days before her murder that her violent boyfriend had choked her ‘until she couldn’t breathe’.
Arleta told jurors that her sister Joanna confessed to her that her boyfriend would strangle and choke her, but that she would fight back by pushing Sexton away from her.
Hospital worker Arleta told the court her younger sister was ‘brave’ and ‘wanted to handle everything herself’.
Stephen Sexton (pictured, left) had strangled and choked his girlfriend Joanna Derkacz (pictured, right) before her death by the same method, Joanna’s sister told the court
Arleta Derkacz (pictured outside Winchester Crown Court) told the court she was told by her sister that she was strangled days before she was murdered
But Arleta confessed she regretted trusting her sister to deal with the situation by herself, calling it the ‘worst decision I ever made’.
She told jurors she offered Ms Derkacz money to move out of the home that she shared with her abusive partner, but said her sister ‘wouldn’t take it’.
Giving evidence to the court, Arleta said she told police after finding Ms Derkacz dead that her sister had confided in her that Sexton had been violent in the past.
Arleta explained that her sister told her around Christmas that it had happened a few months before.
She told police that Ms Derkacz told her: ‘If I didn’t push him away he would hurt me, he would choke me, like I couldn’t breathe.’
It is alleged that Sexton murdered Ms Derkacz by the same method in their home in Waterlooville just days after she had told Arleta what happened.
Arleta told the court: ‘She told me about the strangling. She told me around Christmas but it had happened a few months before.
‘She said: “If I didn’t push him away he would hurt me, he would choke me, like I couldn’t breathe.”
Pictured: recruitment consultant Joanna Derkacz. She told her sister around Christmas in 2023 that Sexton had choked her ‘until she couldn’t breathe’
‘She was always the brave one. Joanna was a very strong person and wanted to handle everything herself.
‘I trusted her to make her own decisions and that’s the biggest mistake of my life.’
When asked why she had not immediately reported the incident to the police, Arleta explained that she and her sister had not had ‘an easy childhood’ and that she had witnessed domestic violence ‘a few times’.
She said: ‘I was so scared you were going to ask me that. My life and Joanna’s life wasn’t easy. This happened in my family quite often.
‘Joanna was fine putting up with it [the alleged strangling from Sexton] because she was used to it.
‘We were so used to it, that’s why I didn’t react [when her sister said Sexton strangled her].
‘I have seen it a few times in my life. If she had told somebody else who hasn’t seen it they might have reacted.’
Arleta also said she thought incidents between her sister and Sexton were just ‘arguments’.
Sexton, 39, is on trial for the coercive control, rape and murder of his girlfriend, 37-year-old Derkacz
‘I thought it was just an argument’, she said.
‘I was obviously angry and upset but I didn’t cross it over with what he did.
‘I heard him raise his voice a few times. I heard the way he talked about his ex-wife and the way he spoke to his son.
‘If I had been smarter and connected the dots I might have had a picture of him sooner.’
Arleta added that she had offered to help her sister move out, saying: ‘I even offered her money to move out but she wouldn’t take it.
‘She wanted to stay because she liked the house. Stephen had already paid rent and he had nowhere to go so it wasn’t fair to make him leave.
‘You would have to know Joanna. She had a big heart.’
Arleta then went on to describe how much she missed her sister.
She said: ‘Even when people ask what I miss the most about her, it is when we would fall out and not speak and then speak again.
‘It’s like in a relationship. When you tell each other you love each other again, it’s like you fall in love again.’
On Monday, Arleta had also told the court how her sister ‘wanted to achieve something in her life, to buy a house, and have a family’.
Sexton denies all offences against Joanna Derkacz, who was a recruitment consultant.
Prosecutors allege he strangled her to death under his forearm or in the crook of his elbow shortly after midnight at their home in Waterlooville, Hampshire, on December 28, 2023.
On December 28, 2023, Arleta previously told the court how she went with her partner to Ms Derkacz’s home in Waterlooville, because she wasn’t returning her calls.
Arleta said Sexton appeared ‘petrified’ and had ‘dead eyes’ when she arrived at the home he shared with her sister.
She told the court how she pushed past Sexton to discover Ms Derkacz’s ‘grey’, lifeless body on her bed, having allegedly been choked to death by her partner of three years.
Arleta told jurors that when she came downstairs, she saw Sexton holding a ‘big kitchen knife’, and that she thought he said ‘I’m sorry’ as she ran out of the house, shouting ‘you killed my sister’.
The jury heard her tell detectives: ‘I just saw my sister being dead. He had nothing to lose – he’d just killed my sister. He could have followed me upstairs and stabbed me.’
The court heard she was pulled out of the house by her partner. She said she was ‘petrified’ and ‘didn’t look back’.
Prosecutors previously said that in the moments after murdering Ms Derkacz, Sexton contacted sex workers because he was ‘aroused’.
Jurors were told he contacted two prostitutes immediately after the murder, taking Ms Derkacz’s car to visit one after sending a message saying ‘I’ll be there in 20 minutes ok baby.’
Sexton denies murder, rape, and coercive or controlling behaviour at Winchester Crown Court, Hampshire.
The trial continues.
