Recalling the moment he was told of the death of Zsuzsanna Besenyei, Cliff Nobrega said: ‘[I felt] very, very upset. Inconsolable really. It is tough to hear that.’
The court had earlier been told of his desperate attempts to get in touch with her, asking for another chance, but no reply to his emails was ever received.
The prosecution case is that Miss Besenyei could not answer as the 37-year-old had already been killed by defendant Jamie Lee Warn, with whom she had been having an affair.
Mr Warn (55) denies murder and two counts of perverting the course of justice. His trial is entering its fourth day.
Miss Besenyei’s ex-boyfriend – Cliff Nobrega – told the court that they had met online on the dating site Plenty of Fish while she was still living in the UK.
After Miss Besenyei arrived in Jersey, they entered a relationship, which lasted on and off for over seven years.
Mr Nobrega admitted the relationship could be ‘volatile’.
He told the court that ‘Zsu’, as he called her, could be jealous. ‘It was up and down,’ Mr Nobrega said. ‘A rollercoaster. The highs were very good but the lows could be very low.’
At one low point in 2014, Miss Besenyei had accused him of rape. He was questioned by the police and spent one night in the cells but the matter was later dropped. ‘I felt bad,’ he said of his reaction to her allegation. ‘I was shocked and in disbelief.’
The two somehow mended their relationship and it continued for years with the couple living together for a number of months at the end of 2017 and in early 2018.
But Mr Nobrega said they split again when Miss Besenyei had gone though some of his things and became jealous.
She moved out without warning in March last year and they had limited contact but he was trying to get her to re-kindle their relationship.
He last heard from her on 10 May – the day the prosecution maintains she was killed – when she emailed that he should leave her alone.
But Mr Nobrega said he continued to try and he was used to hearing these kind of pronouncements from his former girlfriend. ‘She told me once she liked to be chased,’ he said. ‘I was chasing her.’
When police came to his work on 14 May and told him Miss Besenyei’s car had been found, he said at first he was not overly worried and thought there must be some explanation.
He tried emailing again. ‘People are concerned for your welfare,’ he wrote. ‘Including me.’
Two days later her body was found at La Pulec.
Mr Nobrega said he did not know where that was. He Googled it and began collecting news articles about her death.
‘I was in shock and disbelief at what was happening,’ he said.
After Mr Warn was arrested and charged, he searched Facebook for the defendant as he wanted to see what he looked like. He told the court he had no idea Mr Warn might be involved in her disappearance before that time.
On cross examination, defence Advocate James Bell asked whether Miss Besenyei had been faithful to him. Mr Nobrega said he was not sure and had a feeling at one point that she had someone else.
‘I was concerned because this was the girl I loved,’ he said.
Advocate Bell asked about some inconsistencies in his statements to the police where he first told them he had been working on the week of Liberation Day last year, but he had actually had the week off.
Mr Nobrega said he had made a mistake. ‘I was overwhelmed by everything that was happening,’ he said. ‘I went into auto mode and said it was like a normal working week without thinking about it. I had a lot going through my mind.’
Yesterday, the court also heard from a number of witnesses who described Miss Besenyei’s final movements last May.
The jury heard that on 11 May she missed a hair appointment and a beauty appointment, which was very unlike her.
She also missed her Saturday cleaning job, with her client becoming concerned enough to visit her home and eventually contact the police as it was so unlike the woman she had come to know as a friend.
And her former landlord, Trevor Lucas, told the court she missed her normal rent payment, which was made weekly in cash.
He said he sent her a text on the Sunday chasing the rent.
Later that day he received a text, purportedly from her, saying she was sorry, and would sort it out when she saw him.
‘It did not sound like her at all,’ he told the court. ‘It was not her way of texting me.’
But he said he did not think about it further until the police knocked on his door the next day, saying Miss Besenyei’s car had been found and she was a missing person.
The trial continues.
