A convicted murderer is facing the rest of his life behind bars after he dramatically pleaded guilty to stabbing to death his pregnant girlfriend when she refused to abort their baby.
Shaine March was out of prison on licence when he stabbed 32-year-old Alana Odysseos 19 times at her home in Walthamstow, east London.
Ms Odysseos had just discovered she was expecting a child with March, a violent and controlling boyfriend who family and friends had urged her to leave.
But they were still together on the night of the attack, when Ms Odysseos was overheard refusing March’s request to have an abortion.
March, 47, of Surrey Quays, south-east London, initially denied murder and went on trial at the Old Bailey.
But he dramatically changed his plea to guilty on Friday, after a key expert in his defence said they could not support the idea that the stabbing happened when his responsibility was diminished.
It can now be revealed that March was jailed for life at the age of 21 after fatally stabbing a man in the neck at a McDonald’s restaurant in January 2000. He was convicted of Andre Dummond’s murder at the Old Bailey on July 17 2000.
March secured his release on licence in early 2013, he was recalled to jail later that year after an assault on another partner in July, and was released again in February 2018.
March is set to be sentenced on October 31, and as a double murderer he could now face a whole life sentence.
The Old Bailey trial heard how Ms Odysseos withdrew from friends after she started dating March, as he controlled her behaviour and movements.
She told a friend how March banned her from talking to people, threw away her child’s toys, and once smashed a glass in her face.
Her sister urged her to leave March after she revealed he had accused her of cheating, forced her to delete male contacts from her phone, and hurled verbal abuse at her, the court heard.
But they were still in contact on July 22 last year, when, in the early hours of the morning, Ms Odysseos was fatally stabbed.
“At approximately 3am on July 22, 2024, members of the public who lived in and around Lynmouth Road in Walthamstow began to ring 999”, said prosecutor Louise Oakley.
“They had found Alana outside her home address. She was wearing her nightie and a dressing gown. She was clutching her right side.
“She was bleeding from multiple stab wounds to her body.
“She was shouting ‘Shaine stabbed me, he stabbed me’, and ‘Shaine stabbed me, he stabbed me, help, help’.”
The court heard Ms March was pointed out Ms Odysseos at the scene, and he “walked away” while efforts were ongoing to save her life.
Ms Oakley told jurors: “By July 2024, she had been in a relationship with the defendant for approximately four months on the date of her death, and had recently discovered she was pregnant.
“She was someone who had experience huge personal loss following the death of two partners who were the fathers of her children.
“She was vulnerable and all she wanted was to be loved. She desperately wanted to create a family environment for her two-year-old daughter.”
Ms Oakley said Ms Odysseos had told friends in the months before she died that there was trouble in her relationship.
“She disclosed to a friend that she was not allowed to talk to people, and that she had to answer the telephone to him at all times, day or night, including video calls to prove where she was, who she was with, and what she was doing.
“That they would also argue constantly.
“In other conversations she also divulged that the defendant had destroyed or thrown out all of her daughter’s toys and that they had argued about the fact she had recently discovered she was pregnant.
“She admitted that she was scared of the defendant and had been assaulted by him.”
Ms Odysseos complained that March “had interfered with and caused distance between her and her loved ones.
“She told her sister that the defendant accused her of cheating on him, that she had had to delete all the telephone number of any male contacts in her phone”, said Ms Oakley.
“On one occasion, Alana showed her sister voice notes on Whatsapp that the Defendant had sent her, they were of Shaine shouting, threatening to get (her daughter) taken away from her, calling Alana all sorts of derogatory names, saying their unborn child was not his and telling her to get an abortion.
“As a result, her sister tried to persuade her to leave him. But Alana said she loved him, even after that short period of time they had been together. He promised Alana he would change.”
The day before the fatal stabbing, Ms Odysseos told her sister in a messaging conversation that March was “acting up”.
Her sister told her: “U deserve so much better”, but Ms Odysseos replied: “Can’t help who u love but he don’t love any of us.”
At around midnight, neighbours overheard a lengthy argument, the court heard, with a male voice shouting “pregnant” and female voice pleading “come back” and “I don’t want to kill my baby”.
March had gone around to her flat to help move some furniture, and an argument broke out over a pair of trainers.
Jurors heard neighbours recorded some of the row, while Ms Odysseos also filmed some of the unfolding incident. But Ms Oakley said March destroyed her mobile phone before the footage could be seized.
Mr Justice Murray remanded March, of Rainsborough Avenue, in Surrey Quays, south-east London, into custody to be sentenced on October 31.
Detective Inspector Aytac Necati, who led the Met Police investigation, said: “My thoughts remain with Alana’s family and friends, as well as her young daughter, their lives will never be the same after she was so brutally taken away from them.
“March is a cowardly individual who showed absolutely no remorse for Alana or her family. Today he has finally admitted murder and will rightly face the consequences of his actions.
“This case shows the devastating impact domestic abuse has on victim-survivors, families and communities. I urge anyone who experiences domestic abuse or controlling behaviour to report it to police, our officers will listen and will support you.”
