Kinga Legg had been so scared of Ian Griffin during their volatile three-year relationship that she had sent a friend a text message saying ‘in case I die’, prosecutors said.
Polish-born Miss Legg, 36, was found dead in the bath at their room in the Hotel Bristol hours after Griffin had fled – putting a Do Not Disturb sign on the door.
She was naked and had 92 bruises on her body. There was blood on the walls and signs that a stun gun had been used on her.
She had regularly told friends about their abusive relationship and said Griffin had forced her to take so many drugs that she feared she might not wake up, the Paris Assizes was told.
A later text said Griffin had beaten her up, but she subsequently asked her friends to delete the messages, the court heard.
Griffin, 45, who fled to England in his Porsche 911 sports car after Miss Legg’s death in May 2009, denies murder and claims she died by accident. He appeared in the dock on crutches as he now suffers from a neurological disease.
Supporting him in court was his fiancee Tracy Baker, 34, with who he had been in a relationship before he met Miss Legg.
They got back together when she visited him in prison in France after he was extradited from Britain in 2011.
Miss Legg, who was briefly married to an Englishman and also used her maiden name Wolf, ran a successful firm exporting tomatoes from Poland to major companies such as McDonald’s, Tesco and Carrefour.
She and Griffin – who had owned tanning salons and a chain of gadget stores but was declared bankrupt in 2006 – rented a £3million mansion in Oxshott, Surrey. The couple were briefly arrested in 2008 after Miss Legg attacked Griffin with a knife, but there were no charges.
He was said to have been violent towards her during the relationship, while she was said to be hugely jealous of Miss Baker. On May 25, 2009, they were seen arguing in an upmarket Paris restaurant, where they ordered aperitifs and two bottles of wine.
They returned to the Bristol separately and a member of staff said he saw them still arguing when he took another bottle of wine to their room.
Francis Triboulet, defending Griffin, said his client ‘woke up after eight hours in a devastated room, Kinga was still sleeping. As he tried to wake her, he saw she was frozen. He gave her a bath. By 2pm, he realised she was dead.’
Miss Legg’s body was discovered that evening after her brother became concerned that he could not contact her.
Hotel staff found blood spattered on a mattress and walls, furniture smashed and two stun guns, including one disguised as a tube of lipstick, in the room.
Griffin later phoned his father and said ‘something terrible has happened’ and that Miss Legg had killed herself by taking an overdose, the court heard.
Griffin, originally from Warrington, Cheshire, was arrested five days later in woodland outside Macclesfield, where he had been living in a tent. Since his release on bail last year to await trial, he has lived in Cannes.
Griffin, who wore a dark grey suit, blue shirt and tie, looked in pain in the dock. He faces up to 30 years in prison if found guilty. The trial is expected to last five days.
In August Miss Baker appeared on BBC’s Dragons’ Den and was offered £60,000 by Duncan Bannatyne for a stake in a venture producing adhesive hooks and stickers – but the Scottish entrepreneur pulled out when he discovered her link to Griffin.
