A midwife was found in a shallow grave, wrapped in a duvet cover and with tape around her eyes and face, a court has heard.
The body of Samantha Eastwood, 28, was discovered in a rural area near Caverswall, Staffordshire, on Saturday – eight days after going missing.
Michael Stirling, 32, appeared at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday charged with murdering the popular Royal Stoke Hospital worker.
Stirling, of Gratton Road, Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, is the brother-in-law of Miss Eastwood’s ex-fiance, John Peake, and is accused of murdering the midwife between July 26 and August 5 at Baddeley Green, Stoke.
Jonas Hankin QC, prosecuting, told the court the ongoing investigation into the midwife’s death was “complex” and meant a provisional trial date early in 2019 was unlikely to remain in place.
The court heard that Miss Eastwood had been found in a shallow grave, with masking tape around her face and eyes, and had been wrapped inside a single duvet cover.
CCTV footage, telephone evidence and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) data are also set to form part of the evidence at trial.
Defence barrister Samina Rashid made no application for bail and Stirling was not required to enter any plea.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Northampton Crown Court for a plea hearing on October 5.
His trial date was also provisionally set for February 4 next year, but the judge told him that the complexities of the case meant that date was unlikely to remain fixed.
On Monday, Miss Eastwood’s younger sister, Gemma, visited her sibling’s home to take away some of the many flowers and keepsakes left by NHS colleagues, neighbours and members of the public.
In a statement issued through Staffordshire Police, the midwife’s family said: “We would like to say thank you to all the people who followed Samantha’s story and tried their best to help.”
