Confused motives for Jenna's murder

A major obstacle faced by detectives in cracking the case of Jenna Baldwin was an apparent lack of motive.

During his trial her stepfather, Michael Baldwin, said that Jenna's death had been an accident and he had panicked and buried her at a local beauty spot.

But a former cellmate, Mark Dando, said that 36-year-old Baldwin told him he had been having an "affair" with Jenna - and that the 15-year-old was pregnant.

Dando, serving five years for attempted robbery, told the jury that Baldwin demonstrated on him a "chop" to the neck with a hand. "He wanted her to have an abortion," said Dando.

"She went mad. They started arguing. He was getting madder and madder. He said he snapped. He hit her."

At first, Dando said Baldwin had told him he was the father of Jenna's unborn baby.

But he later retracted the statement under cross-examination by Baldwin's counsel, Peter Murphy QC, who told the jury the defendant had had a vasectomy.

Gwent Police also said in a briefing that medical evidence showed Jenna was not pregnant.

Detective Chief Inspector Geoff Ronayne, who headed the investigation, said he was convinced that Dando's version of Baldwin's comments was what had been said to him.

But he added that he could not say for certain that Jenna was having an affair with her stepfather and could only go on what had been presented in evidence.

He said: "It is very difficult to comment on that without having other evidence before me."

Baldwin himself denied in court that there was anything sexual happening between himself and the teenager, and said they "could not stand" each other.

As the police inquiry progressed, it became increasingly clear to police that Baldwin was a violent personality.

A schoolfriend of Jenna told police that she had seen Baldwin push Jenna down stairs during an argument.

Mr Ronayne said: "Initially we did not have a lot of evidence that he was a violent individual, but as the inquiry progressed it became clear that he was.

"That was presented on statement from people who saw him being violent towards Jenna.

"It became clear that he had been involved in situations previously when violence had been used."

Mr Ronayne said Baldwin had "not been enamoured" with Chris Jones, Jenna's boyfriend of around 18 months, who is five years older than she was.

After being charged, Baldwin admitted that Jenna had fallen down the stairs during a heated argument.

The court heard he told a psychiatric nurse it was an "accident" and added: "My wife will never forgive me."