Southampton man Philippe Burger jailed for life for murdering prostitute Georgiana Stuparu

Philippe Burger admitted the brutal killing during which he stabbed his victim four times, telling police: “I thought it was going to be like a movie; once you stab someone they fall to the ground and that’s it. But she carried on breathing”.

The 26-year-old, who had been on the run for stealing £7,000 from a Southampton Tesco store where he was a trainee manager, stabbed Georgiana Stuparu first in the back but when that did not kill her he went for her heart.

Burger (above), from Southampton but of no fixed address, was sentenced alongside his girlfriend Ramona Budiencea, who admitted helping him to clean up the blood and dispose of the murder weapon.

The court heard how the pair had gone to the home of Georgiana, who was a friend of Budiencea and had paid for her flight to the UK, for financial help.

Burger’s barrister told the hearing that the couple were “effectively on the run” after Burger had stolen £7,000 from his employers and having spent all the money on lavish hotels in London had nowhere else to turn so headed to Georgiana in Coventry.

Ramona Budiencea

Budiencea, 22 (above), had met Burger on her flight from Romania to the UK and after refusing to join her friend as a sex worker she stayed with Burger in Southampton before they went on the run.

Knowing that the 23-year-old would not see them if they phoned as she still owed her for the flight, Burger posed as a client and arranged to meet her at her flat.

Donning a “limited disguise” of a pair of sunglasses, Burger, who had been carrying a knife for protection while sleeping in subways, called at the flat while his girlfriend waited nearby. But when Georgiana refused to help them, he became angry and an argument quickly flared up during which he stabbed her four times, once in the stomach, twice in the chest and once in the back.

Burger initially lied to police when he was arrested 48 hours later about his involvement in Georgiana’s death on January 30, but finally admitted the killing after several days of interrogation.

He told police: “I don’t know what was going through my head; I was just so angry because she just wanted her pitiful amount of money back.

The knife used in the murder. Budiencea later tried to bury it.

“I managed to spin her round and took the knife out and stabbed her in the back. She turned round and as I drew my hand back she started making more noise.”

He added: “I thought if I stabbed her in the heart it would be all over. “I stabbed her in the chest while she was on the ground and then it all stopped.”

He said he then panicked and dragged the body into the bedroom where he covered it up before calling Budiencea, who came to the flat and helped to try to clean up the blood.

The court heard that before leaving they stole Georgiana’s two phones and used one of them to send texts to her partner Florian David to make it seem as if she was still alive.

Budiencea then went back to their hotel to pick up a change of clothes before the pair burned the bloodstained clothes in a park and buried the knife and Burger’s belt and watch.

In mitigation Mr Cooper added: “It is difficult to overstate his attachment to and his affection for his co-accused. “It was a wholly unnecessary death, but his horror and disgust at finding his own girlfriend involved in it all came flooding back when he did not obtain the assistance he asked for.”

Burger was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 18 years and four months before he can be considered for parole. Budiencea received a 28-month prison sentence after admitting assisting an offender.

At Warwick Crown Court Judge Griffith-Jones told Burger that he accepted he was in a desperate situation and that when he had gone to the flat it had been to ask for help.

He added: “I sentence you on the basis that things were said by her which would have inflamed you because of your love for and pride in your girlfriend.

“I have come to the conclusion that so far as causing injury, let alone death, this was a case without premeditation. “You took the knife out and you used it and before she died you intended to kill her.”