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Stephen Port planted a fake suicide note on his third victim, framing him for the drug-related death of another young gay man he murdered, an inquest has heard.
The body of Daniel Whitworth, 21, of Nine Elms Road, Gravesend, was dumped in a churchyard in Barking, east London by the so-called Grindr killer after he had drugged and raped him in 2014.
A suicide note found in the former Dartford Grammar pupil's possession stated he blamed himself after accidentally administering a fatal dose of GBH to his lover Mr Kovari.
But after their deaths were linked to those of two other young gay men, Port was eventually charged with and convicted of four counts of murder. Mr Whitworth's suicide note had been forged by him.
Inquests into the four deaths in Barking, which are being held yards from where Port lived and dumped his victims’ bodies, are examining whether police actions could have stopped the 6ft 5in serial killer earlier.
Today an inquest jury heard how the drug-sex predator sought to distance himself from the death of Mr Kovari, his second victim.
This included scribbling an apologetic note and placing it on the dead body of aspiring chef, Mr Whitworth, in order to make it seem like an apparent manslaughter-suicide.
The murders happened three weeks apart in near-identical circumstances, a short distance from Port’s ground-floor flat.
Pornography-obsessed Port, now 46, killed four people during a 16-month murder spree in 2014 and 2015, before being brought to a halt.
The note, read to the inquest jury, said: “I am sorry to everyone, mainly my family, but I can’t go on anymore.
“I took the life of my friend Gabriel Kline (Mr Kovari).
“We was (sic) just having some fun at a mate’s place and I got carried away and I gave him another shot of G (drug GHB).
“I didn’t notice while we was having sex that he had stopped breathing.
“I tried everything to get him to breath (sic) again but it was too late.
“It was an accident but I blame myself for what happened and I didn’t tell my family I went out.”
The handwritten note, jotted down on a a sheet of A4 paper and wrapped in a protective plastic sheet found on Mr Whitworth’s body, added: “I know I would go to prison if I go to the police and I cannot do that to my family and at least this way I can at least be with Gabriel again. I hope he will forgive me.
“BTW (by the way). Please do not blame the guy I was with last night.
“We only had sex then I left. He knows nothing of what I have done.
“I have taken what G I had left with sleeping pills, so if does kill me it is what I deserve.
“Feeling dizzy now as took 10 minutes ago, so hoping you understand my writing.
“I dropped my phone on way here, so should be in the grass somewhere.
“Sorry to everyone. Love always. Daniel PW.”
It was not until much later that it became clear Port was responsible for the note.
Inquest jurors previously heard Port, a bus depot chef who was said to have “a revolving door of boys coming and going”, had told a neighbour that 22-year-old Mr Kovari has “died in Spain” in mysterious circumstances in order to cover his murderous tracks.
Port was jailed for life in 2016 after being convicted of murdering Anthony Walgate, 23, Mr Kovari, Mr Whitworth, and Jack Taylor, 25, by plying them with fatal doses of GHB, as well as a number of rapes.
The inquest, which is expected to last up to ten weeks, continues.
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