Bei Carter murder: John Heald at hotel by 'pure chance'
A man accused of murdering a guest house landlady told a jury it was "pure chance" he ended up at the premises.
John Heald, 53, of Foljambe Road, Rotherham, is charged with the murder of 49-year-old Bei Carter, at the Morayland Hotel, in Bridlington, on 18 July.
Mr Heald denies murder but accepts he was responsible for Mrs Carter's death, which he says was an accident.
He also denies three allegations of rape, in Sheffield, on 13 July.
Giving evidence at Hull Crown Court, Mr Heald said he had not been to the Morayland Hotel before.
Defence barrister Tahir Khan QC asked if it was by "pure chance" Mr Heald ended up at the guest house, which Bei Carter ran with her husband, Terence.
Mr Heald replied: "Yes".
The jury also heard evidence from Humberside Police's Det Con Neil Grantham, who interviewed John Heald, just after his arrest last July.
He confirmed that in almost all the questions he put to Mr Heald about the murder, he made no comment.
But the officer said when he asked Mr Heald why his fingerprints had been found on the doorframe of room number five, he replied: "When I walked past the rooms, I went from room to room and probably had a nosey."
He also told the officer: "My fingerprints may be on all the doors".
Mrs Carter died from a single stab wound to the centre of her chest.
She was found dead in one rooms in the guest house by her husband.
The trial continues.