‘I think she’s on fire’: Jurors played horrifying 999 call of moment 86-year-old postwoman Oona Crown was found dead at home as 70-year-old retired boxer goes on trial for her murder

Jurors today at the trial of a 70-year-old man accused of murdering postwoman Una Crown heard the harrowing 999 call made by a neighborhood paramedic after her remains were discovered.

David Newton, 70, denies murdering Mrs Crown at her home in Cambridgeshire in January 2013.

The 86-year-old pensioner was due to visit her niece for Sunday lunch on the day her body was found by a relative and carer.

However, later that day she was found in a pool of her own blood on her property and her clothes were set on fire in what appeared to be an attempt to destroy evidence.

Investigators initially believed Mrs Crown had accidentally set herself on fire with a stove, but a pathologist later found stab wounds to her neck and chest, as well as wounds to her hands.

As a result, detectives launched a murder investigation and discovered that Mrs Crown’s engagement ring, front door key and £40 were missing.

After a decade without a breakthrough, the case was featured on the BBC’s Crimewatch program in 2023, with a £20,000 reward offered for information leading to an arrest. Newton was subsequently arrested by authorities in April 2024.

Appearing at Cambridge Crown Court on Tuesday, Mr Newton, a retired boxer, wore black-rimmed glasses, a dark jumper and jeans and was assisted by a mediator as he heard the prosecution’s opening from a secure dock.

Care agency worker Julie Buckle had been working at Mrs Crown’s neighbour’s home before discovering her body along with Mrs Crown’s niece’s husband.

In a previous statement to police, Ms Buckle described the moment she found the widower on the floor of her home.

“The door opened easily,” she recalled.

“I saw Una lying on the floor about four or five feet from the front door, her feet toward the front door, her head toward the kitchen.

“Una was lying face down on the carpet, her arms at her sides, her legs straight behind her.

“I saw either blood or body fluids around her and assumed she was dead.”

After discovering Mrs Crown’s remains, Ms Buckle called 999 and played the recording at Cambridge Crown Court.

In it, the caretaker can be heard describing a fire on the kitchen wall, a burnt tea towel on the rail and burning rubbish on the hallway floor.

An exasperated Ms Buckle could be heard telling a 999 operator: “I think she’s on fire.”

The trial is estimated to last four weeks.