Man accused of disposing of ‘brilliant’ jazz trumpeter’s dismembered body appears in court after victim had been stabbed 20 times
- Mark Harding, 44, is accused of ‘assisting’ with disposal of William Algar’s body
- Police found 53-year-old’s head and torso at house in Barnes, London, in January
- Harding and two other people are charged with perverting the course of justice
- He was remanded into custody and the hearing was adjourned until 17 April
A man accused of helping to dispose of a ‘brilliant’ jazz trumpeter’s body appeared in court today as it was revealed the 53-year-old victim was stabbed 20 times before his arms and legs were removed.
Police found William Algar’s head and torso wrapped up in sheets with both his arms and legs missing.
Mr Algar’s dismembered body was discovered at a house in Nowell Road, Barnes, west London, on January 3 after he went missing the previous month.
William Algar (pictured), 53, a musician whose remains were found at an address in Nowell Road, Barnes, west London on January 3 after he went missing in December
Mr Algar, above, was known to friends and family as ‘Blaise’. Speaking after his death, his relatives described him as ‘an incredibly talented musician and a gentle man’
The cause of death was identified as a stab wound to the chest following a post-mortem examination at Kingston mortuary on 5 January.
Mark Harding, 44, is charged with perverting the course of justice, between 16 and 20 December 2019, along with Emeka Dawuda-Wodu, 18, and Simon Emmons, 39.
Dawuda-Wodu and Emmons were not present for the hearing today while Harding appeared at the Old Bailey via prison video link wearing a black top and was not arraigned.
The charge alleges they ‘did a series of acts, namely assist with the disposal and burial of William Algar’s body, which had a tendency to pervert the course of public justice’.
Prosecutor Peter Ratliffe earlier said: ‘This case concerns the discovery by police, on 3 January this year, of a dismembered and decomposing body in a premises in Barnes.
‘The Crown’s case is that the deceased was a vulnerable man with long-standing mental health issues and drug addiction. He was last seen in mid-December.
Police presence outside the house in Barnes after officers discovered remains at the address.
‘The premises when searched was found to contain high volume of blood stains which there had been an attempt to clean.
‘The body itself was wrapped up in a sheet noughted twice. Both of his arms and both of his legs had been removed. They have never been recovered.
‘The torso and head remained. The fatal injury was an eight cm deep stab wound to the chest which penetrated the heart.’
He added: ‘There were a further 20 stab wounds to available body of the deceased and a large area of damage to the scalp consistent with knife tip chopping down on the skull.
‘Analysis of the joints to which the dismembered limbs should have been attached suggest not a saw but similar tools will have been used and considerable force.
‘The evidence suggest that the deceased property had been occupied by drug dealers in the summer, in the practice often referred to as cuckooing.’
Police forensics teams enter a tent at the house in Barnes following the discovery in January. Today, Harding was remanded in custody and the hearing was adjourned until 17 April
Harding from Isleworth, Hounslow, and Dawuda-Wodu and Emmons, both of no fixed address, are charged with perverting the course of justice.
Mr Algar was known to friends and family as ‘Blaise’ and speaking after his death his grieving relatives said in a tribute: ‘We are utterly horrified to lose our son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, friend in such tragic circumstances.
‘William Algar, also known as Blaise, was an incredibly talented musician and a gentle man. He was a brilliant jazz trumpeter and his playing brought joy to so many people.
‘He was also a very vulnerable man.
‘We hope that someone, anyone, can provide vital information to ensure those responsible for his death are brought to justice as swiftly as possible.’
Harding was remanded in custody and the hearing was adjourned until 17 April.