Drunk murderer who stabbed ex’s lover brags to police about killing

This is the moment a drunk killer who stabbed to death his ex-girlfriend’s new lover while they were in bed goads a police officer and brags ‘I know what happened’ after returning to the scene. Marek Hecko (pictured left), 26, was jailed today for life for murdering ‘beloved dad’ Adrian Ellingford (pictured right), 44, at a property in Chelmsford, Essex, last summer. He had previously been in a relationship with Mr Ellingford’s partner, before she broke it off, but he continued to obsess about her and would regularly send unwanted text messages and videos.

In bodycam footage released by police, a visibly-intoxicated Hecko is seen stumbling towards an officer, who is guarding the crime scene, while drinking a large bottle of brandy. Slurring, he tells her: ‘I know what happened, I know the people involved. I know what happened, and you need me to figure out what happened. If you don’t have me, you don’t know what happened.’ He then says: ‘You’re going to think about me but it’s not going to be me, because there’s no proof,’ before adding: ‘This city is mine. This city is [expletive] mine.’

The footage showed Hecko, of Rookes Crescent, Chelmsford, returning to the scene in Nelson Grove just hours after stabbing his victim to death on the morning of July 25. The muscled thug is then pictured on body cam being arrested as officers struggled to get the intoxicated killer into a police van. Hecko was today jailed for 26 years after being convicted of the murder of father-of-two Mr Ellingford. ‘Jealous and obsessed’ killer Hecko had stabbed Mr Ellingford in the back twice in the early hours of July 25. The 44-year-old died later that morning from his injuries. Chelmsford Crown Court heard how Hecko sneaked into the property while Mr Ellingford slept with his partner. The killer snatched a knife from the kitchen and plunged it into his victim with such force, it broke the handle.

Hecko had been in a relationship with Mr Ellingford’s partner beforehand but she had broken it off. However, he remained obsessed with her, arriving at her workplace and home uninvited and sending her lengthy messages and videos. Things came to a head that night when Hecko bought two bottles of wine and walked to the home, which was captured on CCTV. He left one bottle at the scene having drunk the alcohol, and then also left the handle of the knife, with his DNA on it, in the hallway, as it had snapped off when he stabbed Mr Ellingford. At the start of the trial prosecutor Cyrus Shroff, said Hecko had shown ‘stalking’ behaviors in the months leading to Adrian’s stabbing.

The thug would would send the woman long messages, videos of him talking and turning up to her workplace – as well as her home – uninvited. Judge Christopher Morgan said Hecko was ‘jealous of her and suspicious of her,’ adding ‘you stalked her and that is quite plain.’ Hecko trawled the internet to try and access the woman’s Facebook page to see if she was in a relationship, the trial heard. In a lengthy victim statement to the court, Mr Ellingford’s wife, Laura, said her husband’s death had left her family devastated. She added: ‘Having sat through the trial, Hecko refused to accept responsibility for all of his actions. I’ve been told that I’m brave, but I don’t see myself like that. I see myself as a wife and a mother. I don’t think Marek Hecko appreciates the consequences of his actions. The ripples of his actions will affect all of us for a very long time to come.’

The court heard that Hecko and his ex-girlfriend had ended a relationship in April 2022 as she hated his drug taking. The court heard that Hecko ‘accepted the end of the relationship and were moving on with your life.’ But a number of long texts, videos and images of him at her place of work uninvited and several internet searches were said to have shown he was ‘finding it difficult to emotionally untangle yourself from her and that has resulted in the death of an entirely innocent man.’ Before passing sentence, Judge Morgan said: ‘It is clear that you were obsessive and jealous of her and what she (his ex-girlfriend) may be doing. That is why it explains on July 25 you attended Nelson Grove in the early hours armed with a knife. On July 24 you attended work but there was evidence that in the morning you had been searching on the internet trying to find out more information about her.’

Judge Morgan added: ‘No-one but yourself will know the precise circumstances in which you stabbed Adrian Ellingford to death. No-one will know, unless you reveal it, if he was at the bottom of the stairs or upstairs or in the bedroom. But what is known is that you stabbed him, that you did not stab him once, there were two deep penetrating stabs to his chest. Both of them with an extreme level of force.’ Such was the force of the attack that doctors found damage and cutting to a bone in Mr Ellingford’s chest. A jury took less than a day to deliver their guilty verdict. Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe, who led the investigation, said, ‘Adrian’s death was tragic and caused a huge shock to this small community. The team acted quickly to begin gathering evidence and taking statements from those in the area. Whilst one of our officers was guarding the crime scene, she was approached by Hecko who was heavily intoxicated and indicated that he knew what had happened. Enquiries identified him as a main suspect and he was arrested on suspicion of murder.’

The DCI added: ‘This trial has been long and extremely distressing for Adrian’s loved ones, who have had to sit and listen to details of his death. I hope that this court result today and this justice provides a form of closure to Adrian’s loved ones, who have had an incredibly difficult time since his death.’ Hecko, who was wearing a navy roller neck jumper and blue jeans in the dock, showed no clear sign of emotion as the sentence was passed. He looked down as he was led to cells while a member of the public gallery delivered an expletive-laden outburst towards him. Hecko’s sentence was life imprisonment with a minimum of 26 years, minus 230 days served on remand.

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