Screenshots of bundles of cash sent 'from murder defendant's phone' in days before killing, jury hears
A Kettering murder defendant is alleged to have screenshot images of piles of cash from Wolf of Wall Street story and sent them to his girlfriend.
On day three of a murder trial at Northampton Crown Court, the jury was shown dozens of text messages sent from a defendant’s phone in the days before he allegedly killed John Boyle.
They included images of piles of money that he had screenshot from a story about corrupt broker, the Wolf of Wall Street, before allegedly forwarding them to his girlfriend Jordan White’s phone.
The jury has already heard that Mills, 46, was ‘desperate to impress’ White, as well as another woman called Kim who he was texting at the same time.
Mills, formerly of Marriott Street, Northampton, is accused of murdering grandad John Boyle at his Leatherland Court flat on October 26, 2025, as he slept. The prosecution say he was motivated by money and had stolen Mr Boyle’s bank card and car after he allegedly battered him to death with a weapon.
‘It’s me, John’
Yesterday (Thursday, November 5) jurors were given a sequence of events compiled by East Midlands Special Operations Unit intelligence analyst Hannah Taylor.
She was in court to explain how she had put together call data, phone evidence, CCTV and bank records to compile a minute-by-minute record of what happened in the days before and after Mr Boyle’s death.
In that sequence of events, the jury was told that the first record of calls between Mills and Mr Boyle was on October 17, nine days before the alleged murder.
Mills twice attempted to phone Mr Boyle on that day but the elderly man didn’t answer.
He then sent a text saying: “John it’s me, John, call me when it free kindly” (sic).
There were numerous empty text messages sent from Mills’s phone to Jordan White’s phone recovered by analysts after his arrest, which Miss Taylor said suggested the messages had been deleted.
Half a million
On the same day, October 17, Mills received his first text from a woman named Kim. He sent her multiple texts in the following hours and days, asking about her horses and her money.
He suggested to her that he was being bribed by a woman who wanted half a million pounds from him.
One message from Mills said: “She tried to stitch me up.”
And another said: “She threatens to blackmail me for half a million.”
The following day, October 18, there were multiple attempts to withdraw cash by John Boyle’s bank card and to find out his balance at ATMs. Some of these were declined by the bank, and Mr Boyle was sent texts from Barclays informing him he had ‘reached his daily limit’.
Mills also sent a message to Kim saying: “Because I left her she's threatening to say this and if I don’t give her half a million then she’s fu***ng me over and thinks I’m sleeping with someone already.”
Police officers managed to recover WhatsApps they believed had been sent from Mills’s phone to White’s phone that showed a man’s hand clutching a bundle of bank notes. Detectives later discovered they were screenshot from a Pinterest story about a corrupt broker called the Wolf of Wall Street.
Backpack
Earlier in the day, Jason Bartfeld KC cross examined Northants Police digital media investigator Gary Dale who had shown the jury multiple CCTV clips of Mills in Kettering on October 26, the day of the alleged murder.
The jury had seen footage of him in Poundland as well as clips later in the day of him wearing the same hi-vis vest, North Face trousers, cap, and carrying a black rucksack as he walked thorough various streets in Kettering near to Mr Boyle’s home.
But Mr Bartfeld questioned Mr Dale over how he could be sure that the later clips definitely showed the defendant, as it was dark and the CCTV quality was sometimes poor.
"You make that identification based on the hi-vis vest and the backpack?” asked Mr Bartfeld.
"Yes,” replied Mr Dale.
"And are you suggesting to the jury that that is sufficient to say it’s one and the same man?” asked Mr Bartfeld.
"Yes,” said Mr Dale.
He also asked whether he had any explanation for a four, hour 10 minute gap during the day where there was no CCTV of Mills.
"No,” replied Mr Dale. “Other people might be able to give you the information but I can’t.”
They also saw several clips of Jordan White with her husky-type dog, both inside her house and walking down Victoria Street in the early hours of October 27.
The charges
Mills denies Mr Boyle’s murder, the theft of Mr Boyle’s car, and a separate burglary on November 8 at another address in Kettering.
He has already pleaded guilty to four further charges. He admitted taking Mr Boyle’s Vauxhall Astra without consent; conspiracy to steal from Mr Boyle; and two counts of fraud involving the use of a bank card belonging to an elderly female victim. Mills admitted using her card at a shop in Avondale Road and at Sainsbury’s petrol station on November 8 last year, days after the alleged murder.
The second defendant, Jordan White, 28, of Victoria Street, Kettering, previously admitted conspiracy – with Mills – to steal from Mr Boyle between October 24 and November 9. She is not on trial for murder and will be sentenced for the conspiracy at the conclusion of these proceedings.
The trial continues.