Jodie Willis, Martin Stanislaus and Leigh Burns appeared in court over alleged murder of Lee Gillespie in High Wycombe

A High Wycombe man was stabbed 15 times after his ex-girlfriend arranged his murder in a graveyard – hours after she argued with him, claiming he had made her pregnant, a jury heard today.

Father-of-two Lee Gillespie was stabbed to death during a brutal attack outside All Saints Church in the town centre last year after he tripped when trying to run away from three people who had come to confront him, prosecutors claimed.

Mr Gillespie’s former partner, Beaconsfield resident Jodie Willis, stood in the dock today alongside Martin Stanislaus and Leigh Burns as a prosecutor revealed how they were on trial for murder and perverting the course of justice after Mr Gillespie died on August 22.

The jury was told that Willis ordered the graveyard slaying of Lee Gillespie over the "bitterness and resentment" she felt over a "partner swap".

In another twist, the court heard that the 26-year-old was stabbed to death by Stanislaus, from Ealing, - another former partner of Willis and the father of her child, who had been ordered to attack Mr Gillespie.

Click on the image above to see more pictures from the scene, including the forensic investigation, the arrival of TV media and floral tributes.

Stanislaus and Willis were led to the churchyard, where the fatal stabbing happened, by Leigh Burns, who at the time of the attack was living with Willis.

The court heard that Burns and Willis had been involved in an argument in the same churchyard with Mr Gillespie and his new partner, Lea Sinclair, earlier in the day.

During the argument Willis had claimed that she was pregnant with Mr Gillespie's baby - leading her to order Stanislaus to attack Mr Gillespie in retaliation, the court was told.

Prosecutor Alan Blake told the jury at Reading Crown Court that the defendants had gone to the home Mr Gillespie shared with Miss Sinclair earlier in the day and wrecked it when they discovered the couple were not home.

They then went to the churchyard, where they found Mr Gillespie and stabbed him to death, the court was told.

The court heard that it was the prosecutions case that although 38-year-old Stanislaus delivered the fatal blows - which, the court heard, were "delivered with great force" - Willis and Burns were secondary parties as they helped organise the violence.

All three have been charged with murder, which they all deny.

Mr Blake told the eight women and four men on the jury: “Inflamed by the various allegations made by Jodie Willis about how her ex-boyfriend had treated her, Martin Stanislaus travelled to High Wycombe that evening and, the Crown says, used a knife to inflict fatal violence on Lee Gillespie - a man he apparently didn't even know.

Lee Gillespie.

"While it was Stanislaus who stabbed Lee Gillespie, Jodie Willis and Leigh Burns are indicted as secondary partners to that murder. In other words, they share responsibility for the attack.

"It was an attack Jodie Willis had commissioned in the first place by recruiting Stanislaus to come to Wycombe.

“It was Burns who led the way to the churchyard where Stanislaus launched his attack, in a place where Willis and Burns had seen Mr Gillespie earlier that day."

Mr Gillespie was in the churchyard with two friends when he was approached by the three defendants at 8.45pm.

Mr Blake told the court: "He sprinted off in the opposite direction, pursued by the others.

"However he tripped over a low wall that ran round a lawned area and fell over. As he sought to turn himself over on the ground, he was set upon by the lead male - the Crown say that is the defendant Martin Stanislaus - and repeatedly stabbed in the chest, head and upper limbs.

"The female and other male stopped on the grass a few metres from where Lee had fallen.

"Mr Stanislaus turned away from Lee on the ground. When he tried to say something, he returned and delivered a further two stabs in the area of the upper chest with a large knife."

Mr Blake told the court that there had been bad blood between 36-year-old Willis and Mr Gillespie for some time, but their feud violently erupted after they got into an argument earlier on in the day when Mr Gillespie was killed.

He said: "The relationship between Lee Gillespie and Lea Sinclair wasn't long established. They had been together for a few weeks, perhaps a couple of months, before they were parted by Lee's death.

Flowers left at the scene following death of Lee Gillespie - ARM Images.

"Prior to commencing his relationship with Lea, Lee had been in a relationship with another woman - the second defendant, Jodie Willis - for some years. Following the break up, it's evident there had been some tension between the pair.

"Before getting together with Lee Gillespie, Lea Sinclair had herself been in a relationship with a man called Nick Baker.

“At the time of the stabbing he was staying at Jodie Willis' address, together with another man, the third defendant in this case, Leigh Burns.

"It was Lea Sinclair's belief, rightly or wrongly, that her previous boyfriend had formed a new relationship with Jodie Willis. There had effectively been a partner swap.

"Lee Gillespie's decision to change partners from Jodie Willis to Lea Sinclair was a source of considerable bitterness and resentment to Jodie.”

Police at the scene after alleged murder in High Wycombe town centre.

Mr Blake said there had been an earlier argument between Miss Sinclair and Willis and Burns the same day outside a McDonald's restaurant where Miss Sinclair frequently went busking.

He said: "She [Willis] made a number of comments towards her, including 'he'll never love you like he loved me'.”

Willis then walked to the nearby churchyard of All Saints Church, where she began drinking and became embroiled in an argument with two homeless people, according to the prosecutor.

Mr Blake told the jury: "She was speaking mainly about Lee Gillespie, claiming she was pregnant with his child. She had told her baby's dad - the Crown say that is Martin Stanislaus - and the baby's dad wasn't happy about this."

Mobile phone records show Willis and Stanislaus became engaged in series of texts and phone calls with each other from 3pm, jurors were told.

In custody: Stanislaus, Willis and Burns were transported by a secure van after an appearance at Wycombe Magistrates Court.

Stanislaus and Willis made arrangements to meet up, with Stanislaus telling his mother that his co-defendant was "screaming down the phone that she was going to kill herself" and he had to see to her.

He travelled to the home Willis and Burns shared with Mr Baker in The Mead, Beaconsfield, from west London, via train while carrying a knife, Mr Blake said.

When they got to Wycombe they headed to Miss Sinclair's home in Queens Road but found no one inside.

They broke in and ransacked the house, Mr Blake said, smashing a television, tearing open a sofa with a knife and wrecking a set of drawers.

Willis's fingerprints were found on one of the drawers, while Stanislaus's blood and DNA were found after he picked up a significant injury while slashing the sofa, the jury was told.

After the alleged murder, Stanislaus and Burns got the next train out of Wycombe and went back to Willis's home in Beaconsfield, where the killer removed his clothing and buried it in the garden alongside the knife, Mr Blake told the jury.

Willis went to Mr Baker's house in High Wycombe and spent the night there, discarding the green dress she had worn to the scene of the killing in nearby undergrowth.

Attempts to hide the clothing they had worn at the time of the killing led to all three defendants being charged with perverting the course of justice.

Police and television crews at the scene following alleged murder - ARM Images.

Stanislaus is also charged with possessing a blade in a public place.

The three defendants - including 38-year-old Burns, now of Willcott Road, Ealing, west London - deny all the charges.

Mr Blake told the jury: "As the blows rained down on Lee Gillespie, some witnesses suggest Willis sought to get Stanislaus to stop.

“She may very quickly have come to regret what they had done, and the violence she had set in motion, but by then it was too late.

"The subsequent regret is no defence to a charge of murder."

The trial, at Reading Crown Court, continues in front of Judge John Reddihough.