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'I'm at Asda buying some crisis': Tabak sent misspelt 'crisps' message to girlfriend just two hours after killing the landscape architect
Passers-by 'heard screams' from young victim's house
The accused 'constantly searched police website' for updates on the case
Miss Yeates, 25, was found buried in snow on Christmas Day
Killer 'didn't know his victim's name', court hears
Her mother weeps as the prosecution makes its opening statement

By Luke Salkeld for the Daily Mail and Ryan Kisiel for the Daily Mail
Updated: 17:22 EST, 10 October 2011

Joanna Yeates was murdered by her next-door neighbour who then calmly drove to Asda with her body in the boot of his car, a court heard yesterday.

CCTV shows Vincent Tabak casually strolling into the supermarket less than two hours after he strangled the 25-year-old landscape architect, leaving his car – and her body – in the car park while he bought beer and crisps, it was said.

The Dutch national, who it has emerged did not even know his victim's name, was said to have killed Miss Yeates just a few minutes after she arrived home.

Scroll down for CCTV footage of Tabak in Asda

Vincent Tabak walks through the aisles of Asda buying crisps, beer and rock salt

CCTV footage shows him casually walking into the supermarket while it is alleged that Joanna's body was in the boot of his car

CCTV footage shows Tabak casually walking into the supermarket while it is alleged that Miss Yeates's body was in the boot of his car

Joanna Yeates: The landscape architect was found dead on Christmas Day last year

In the days after her death, in December last year, he was able to 'mislead and manipulate others and to hide his inner feelings' and play the role of a worried neighbour, the jury at his murder trial was told.

While at the supermarket he sent a text message to his girlfriend Tanja Morson saying he was 'bored'.

Later that evening, 33-year-old Tabak dumped Miss Yeates's body by the side of a country road, covered it in leaves, and picked up his girlfriend from her Christmas party, it is alleged.

His victim's body then lay undiscovered for more than a week, hidden by a thick covering of snow, until it was found on Christmas Day.

Tabak has already admitted killing Miss Yeates, claiming it was manslaughter rather than murder. But prosecutor Nigel Lickley QC told the court: 'Tabak held her throat hard enough and for long enough to kill her.

'He was in complete control and knew what he was doing. At the same time, he knew Joanna Yeates was resisting and fighting for her life.

'There were screams heard by neighbours at a nearby party. Those screams were Vincent Tabak attacking her.'

Less than two hours later, Tabak sent a text message to his girlfriend, which read: 'I am at Asda buying some crisis. Was bored. Can't wait to pick you up.'

Mr Lickley said Tabak had meant 'crisps' rather than 'crisis' in his text message and added: 'It must be that the body of Joanna Yeates was in the boot of his car at the time of his visit to Asda.'

In court: An artist's impression of Vincent Tabak, who is on trial for the murder of Joanna Yeates - he is alleged to have texted his girlfriend saying he was 'bored' just hours after the killing

Parents: David and Teresa Yeates arriving at Bristol Crown Court this morning

The court also heard that after Miss Yeates was reported missing, Tabak closely monitored the police investigation, and used the internet to research how long it takes for a human body to decompose.

It was said that he even told police he had information to pass on to them about his landlord, Chris Jefferies, the retired teacher who was the first person arrested – and later released without charge – in connection with Miss Yeates's death.

In the weeks before Tabak himself was arrested, he carried out Google searches on the legal definitions of murder and manslaughter.

All this time, the bespectacled engineer maintained a calm outward demeanour, discussing the case with his girlfriend in emails and talking about it with friends, it is alleged.

Jurors were told that, on the night after the killing, Tabak and Miss Morson, 35, went to a birthday party. Mr Lickley described a fellow partygoer's encounter with him that night: 'He appeared quiet and disinterested and short with his answers.

The landlord's arrest

Head in hands: Tabak depicted in the dock yesterday listening to the prosecution's opening statement

Accused: Tabak, pictured with his girlfriend Tanja Morson, appeared in court today for the start of his trial

Distraught: Miss Yeates's parents, David and Teresa, looked distressed in court while Tabak spent much of the time staring at the floor

'She describes the meeting with him as difficult and describes Vincent Tabak as not wanting to be there.'

TEARS AND SMILES FROM JO'S WATCHING PARENTS

The parents of Joanna Yeates showed a mixture of emotions today as they listened to the prosecution outline its case against Vincent Tabak.

David and Teresa Yeates arrived at Bristol Crown Court to a barrage of television cameras and photographers.

Accompanied by a police family liaison officer, they were dressed in dark suits and Mrs Yeates clutched a newspaper under her arm.

In the modern courtroom, with several television screens for the jury, public, press and Tabak himself, Mr and Mrs Yeates sat in the front seats of the public gallery.

A clean-shaven Tabak, dressed smartly in a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie with glasses, listened from the glass-fronted dock to Nigel Lickley QC outline his case against him.

Mr Lickley spoke directly to the jury in a slow and clear voice in a room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Mr Yeates held the fingers on one hand to his face while with the other he held on to his wife's hand tightly.

As the prosecutor continued to speak, Tabak, 33, covered his eyes and later removed his glasses to rub them. He also ran his hands through his hair as if massaging his head.

As Mr Lickley described the moment Tabak squeezed the life from Miss Yeates, her mother's eyes welled up.

The court watched CCTV video of Miss Yeates' final movements and the emotional roller-coaster continued for her family while Tabak rarely looked at the television screen in front of him.

Mrs Yeates watched her daughter, who so resembled her, and choked back tears and rubbed her eyes with a tissue.

She managed a small smile as Mr Lickley explained that her daughter planned to spend the weekend baking while her boyfriend was away.

Mrs Yeates also smiled and let out a small laugh as she watched CCTV footage of her daughter inside an off-licence picking up a bottle of cider, turning away to pay but changing her mind at the last second and going back for a second bottle.

Meanwhile, Tabak glanced around the packed courtroom but spent most of the morning with his head in his hands, staring at the floor or making sporadic notes.

The court heard that when a friend at a dinner party the following month questioned how the killer might be feeling as the police hunt continued, Tabak suggested that whoever was responsible for Miss Yeates's death was a 'detached crazy person'.

Yesterday Tabak was accused of having a personality that fitted his own description.

Sitting in the dock, wearing a dark suit, a light blue shirt and a blue tie, he followed proceedings intently, sometimes covering his face with his hands, or leaning forward, dragging his fingers through his hair.

A few feet away, Miss Yeates's parents David and Teresa paid little attention to him as they listened to the detailed description of what is said to have happened to their daughter ten months ago.

The couple held each other's hands as the prosecutor described the events of December 17.

And they wept and comforted each other as the court was shown CCTV footage of Miss Yeates's last night alive.

The film showed her visiting a pub in Bristol with friends after work. Mr Lickley pointed out the clothes, jeans and a pink top she was wearing when her body was found.

Other items she was seen wearing, a green gillet, black boots and a ski jacket, were found at the flat she shared with her boyfriend Greg Reardon in Canynge Road, in the affluent suburb of Clifton, along with her keys and mobile phone.

Mr Reardon, 28, who worked at the same company as Miss Yeates, had left Bristol that Friday night to visit family in Sheffield.

His girlfriend had told friends she had no special plans for her weekend alone, but had hoped to do some baking.

On her way home, she sent three texts to male friends asking if they were out that night. It is not known whether she was looking for somebody to share a drink with on her way home.

At 8.02pm, she left the pub and sent a text to her friend Peter Rindsell: 'Peter, where art thou?! Jx.' He later replied at 9.58pm, by which time she was already dead.

She had also made a bet with a colleague about who would win the final episode of The Apprentice, which was due to be shown that Sunday.

Mr Reardon had returned to their £200,000 rented flat in time to watch the show with her. Instead, when he arrived Miss Yeates was not there, and the hallway was a mess.

Realising her coat, keys and phone were in the flat, he began phoning her friends and parents in a panic, before calling police.

'It is a striking feature of this case that, as one young man became more and more worried about his missing girlfriend, there, on the other side of the common wall, was her killer,' Mr Lickley said.

Prosecutors admit that Tabak is the only person who can solve the mystery of what happened to the pizza bought by Miss Yeates but never found. The basil and mozzarella pizza became a key part of the police investigation.

Mr Lickley said Tabak 'took the pizza and one of her socks'. 'Why? Only he can say', he said.

Arrival: A prison van believed to be carrying Tabak enters the court buildings

The site where Joanna Yeates's body was found

Crime scene: Miss Yeates was killed at her flat, left, and her body was hidden in Longwood Lane, right

Messages he used to cover his tracks

Trial: Tabak, pictured on a charity run, was arrested on the basis of a DNA sample

Vincent Tabak sent a series of text messages and emails in the hours and days after Jo Yeates's murder in an apparent bid to cover his tracks, the court heard.

In one text he told his girlfriend Tanja Morson he was 'bored' – as he sat in his car with Miss Yeates's body in the boot, the jury was told.

It read: 'Miss you loads. It's boring here without you V xx.'

In another, he repeated the claim that he was missing Miss Morson, and he also bombarded her with emails in which he discussed the hunt for the missing landscape architect.

On one occasion, he wrote: 'Let's hope nothing bad happened and she is dis- covered healthy and well today/ tomorrow.'

In all, 34 days passed between the evening Tabak killed Miss Yeates and the dawn raid when he was arrested.

In that time, the 6ft 4in Dutchman played the role of a concerned Clifton resident with aplomb, the court was told.

On December 21, he wrote to Miss Morson: 'Hi gorgeous […] Missing you, hope you are able to do some work. I am not sure what, if I am, going to tell my colleagues. Don't want to upset them too, it's such a horrible thing to be thinking of.

'Maybe I'm just going to tell them that I'm not feeling okay which is somewhat the truth.'

Later that morning he told her how he wanted to leave early to visit Miss Morson's family, writing: 'Wish we could leave for Cambridge this evening and leave the mess behind. Missing you loads.'

Miss Morson replied: 'I don't feel funny about our home but I don't want to walk home alone or be at home alone.'

Tabak wrote back: 'Let's hope nothing bad happened and she is discovered healthy and well today/tomorrow.

'I was also thinking that if something bad happened, I don't want to live there anymore. Too scary.'

In another message, before Miss Yeates's body was discovered by two dog walkers, her killer wrote: 'At least there is no sign of foul play, that is a slight relief. Let's hope she is found asap.'

Miss Morson also expresses her sympathy for Miss Yeates's family and boyfriend, who, she says, 'are suffering so much'.

Her boyfriend, replied: 'The whole situation is very mysterious. What happened with the pizza but of course, more importantly with her????'

After killing Miss Yeates, the court heard that Tabak carried on his everyday activities and showed no outward indication that he had murdered an innocent young woman.