‘I’m sorry, I took the life of my friend’: Serial killer Stephen Port planted FAKE suicide note on his third murder victim to frame him for the drug-induced death of his second, inquest hears

• Serial killer Stephen Port planted fake suicide note on body of Daniel Whitworth
• Port hoped the note would distance himself from the murder of Gabriel Kovari
• Port killed Mr Whitworth and Mr Kovari and Anthony Walgate  and Jack Taylor
• An inquest is being held to determine if police could have stopped him sooner 

Serial killer Stephen Port planted a fake suicide note on his third victim, framing him for the ‘drug-related death’ of his second victim, an inquest today heard.

The drug-sex predator sought to distance himself from the death of Gabriel Kovari, his second victim, by scribbling an apologetic note and placing it on the dead body of Daniel Whitworth.

Port had hoped that by placing the note, police would suspect Daniel, 21 to have been involved in a manslaughter-suicide, the inquest heard.

The murders happened three weeks apart in near-identical circumstances, a short distance from Port’s ground-floor flat in Barking, east London.

Rather than a murder-suicide, it was Pornography-obsessed Port, now 46, who had killed the two men.

He also killed Anthony Walgate, 23, and Jack Taylor, 25, during a 16-month murder spree in 2014 and 2015, before being brought to a halt.

Inquests into the deaths are examining whether police could have stopped Port sooner by acting differently.

The note, read to the inquest jury on Friday, said: ‘I am sorry to everyone, mainly my family, but I can’t go on anymore. I took the life of my friend Gabriel Kline (Mr Kovari).

Serial killer Stephen Port (pictured) planted a fake suicide note on his third victim, framing him for the drug-related death of his second victim, an inquest today heard

The drug-sex predator sought to distance himself from the death of Gabriel Kovari, his second victim, by scribbling an apologetic note and placing it on the dead body of Daniel Whitworth. Port had hoped that by placing the note police would suspect Daniel, 21 to have been involved in a manslaughter-suicide, the inquest heard.

‘We was (sic) just having some fun at a mate’s place and I got carried away and I gave him another shot of G (drug GHB).

‘I didn’t notice while we was having sex that he had stopped breathing. I tried everything to get him to breath (sic) again but it was too late.

‘It was an accident but I blame myself for what happened and I didn’t tell my family I went out.’

Timeline of Stephen Port’s crimes

June 4, 2014: Police find Stephen Port at Barking station in East London with a young man he had drugged who has collapsed. Port admits they had taken illegal drugs but is not arrested.

June 19: Anthony Walgate, 23, given drug overdose and raped by Port who dumps body outside his flat and calls 999, claiming he has found an unconscious man.

June 26: Port suspected of lying to police and charged with perverting the course of justice. Released on bail. He is not accused of murdering Mr Walgate.

August 28: Gabriel Kovari, 22, given an overdose and raped by Port who dumps the body against a graveyard wall.

September 20: Daniel Whitworth, 21, given a drug overdose and raped. Port dumps his body against the same graveyard wall. Mr Whitworth is wearing Mr Kovari’s top and is in a bed-sheet which has Port’s DNA on it.

October 1: Detective Chief Inspector Tony Kirk tells local paper the three deaths within a mile of each other are not being treated as suspicious.

March 23, 2015: Port jailed for perverting the course of justice by lying over Mr Walgate’s death. Released on licence in June with an electronic tag.

June 2015: Inquests into the deaths of Mr Kovari and Mr Whitworth were held, which were later set aside at the High Court in the wake of the murder trial. 

September 13: Jack Taylor, 25, given a drug overdose and raped by Port. Body found next to the same graveyard.

October 15: Port arrested on suspicion of four murders and charged. Later charged with attacks on eight other men.

November 23, 2016: Port is convicted of 22 offences against 11 men, including four murders, four rapes, four assaults by penetration and 10 of administering a substance. He was cleared on three counts of rape. 

November 25: Port is handed a whole-life sentence for the four murders.

The handwritten note was on a sheet of A4 paper and wrapped in a protective plastic sheet found on Mr Whitworth’s body.

The note added: ‘I know I would go to prison if I go to the police and I cannot do that to my family and at least this way I can at least be with Gabriel again.

‘I hope he will forgive me. BTW (by the way). Please do not blame the guy I was with last night.

‘We only had sex then I left. He knows nothing of what I have done. I have taken what G (and) I had left with sleeping pills, so if (it) does kill me it is what I deserve.

‘Feeling dizzy now as (I) took 10 minutes ago, so hoping you understand my writing.

‘I dropped my phone on way here, so should be in the grass somewhere. Sorry to everyone. Love always. Daniel PW.’

It was not until much later that it became clear Port was responsible for the note.

Inquest jurors previously heard Port, a bus depot chef who was said to have ‘a revolving door of boys coming and going’, had told a neighbour that 22-year-old Mr Kovari has ‘died in Spain’ in mysterious circumstances in order to cover his murderous tracks.

Port was jailed for life in 2016 after being convicted of murdering Anthony Walgate, 23, Mr Kovari, Mr Whitworth, and Jack Taylor, 25, by plying them with fatal doses of GHB, as well as a number of rapes.

Previously the inquest heard how Port had a ‘voracious appetite’ for meeting ‘very young’ men and spent time with ‘vulnerable’ boys to such an extent that his neighbour considered he might have ‘paedophile tendencies’.

Neighbour Ryan Edwards said while he had concerns about Port he was reassured by the killer that his interest in young men was legal and that the drugs he was using were for personal use only.

He also described how Port, who also sexually assaulted several men, had a ‘strange’ obsession with children’s toys and tried to cover his murderous tracks by telling him his second victim Gabriel Kovari died in mysterious circumstances abroad. 

Mr Edwards told inquest jurors he struck up a friendship with Port due to them being neighbours and members of Barking’s LGBT community.

He said their friendship was strictly platonic, and that Port would frequently invite him over to meet his new partner, something which occasionally gave Mr Edwards cause for concern.

He told the inquest jury: ‘My slight concern with Stephen Port was sometimes the guys he would introduce me to were very young – 16, 17 sometimes, very close to the age of consent.

‘Often there were difficult circumstances, broken homes, needing somewhere to stay, vulnerable.

‘I was wondering if he was bordering on paedophile tendencies, but I didn’t have any evidence.’

Mr Edwards added: ‘He had a voracious appetite for meeting guys and I was always astonished at how he was able to meet so many, he wasn’t exactly ”Mr Personality”. 

‘That was slightly strange.’

Mr Edwards also described being invited to Port’s flat one evening to meet his ‘new guy’, only to find the male seemingly unable to speak and drugs paraphernalia on the coffee table.

Gabriel Kovari, 22, (left) and Anthony Walgate, 23, (right) were found dead near Stephen Port’s flat

Two of Port’s four victims were Jack Taylor (left), 25, and Daniel Whitworth (right), 21

He said: ‘I did ask Stephen about it and he reassured me it was for his own personal use and reassured me not to worry.

‘Rightly or wrongly, drugs are very prevalent on the gay scene, I don’t see it as my place to police that.’

Mr Edwards said he would have reported concerns about Port’s young companions and about drug use if there was any evidence of criminal activity, as he had done with a previous friend.

He also described how Port loved playing with Transformers toys, specifically the ones designed for children.

‘(It was) strange for a grown man,’ Mr Edwards said, ‘but I took Stephen for his quirks, and there were many.’

The inquests continue.

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