An obsessed man rigged up “secret surveillance devices” to spy on his housemate before stabbing her to death, a court heard.

Sheldon Rodrigues, 30, was allegedly angry that Stephanie Hansen, 39, was seeing a married work colleague and embarked on a campaign to disrupt the relationship.

He bought spy devices, sent an abusive message via Facebook under the name of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, and complained to her lover’s employer, the aviation firm Swissport, jurors were told.

The situation allegedly came to a head when Rodrigues learned cargo agent Ms Hansen’s boyfriend had visited her while he was at work.

Shortly before 6am last Dec 30, Ms Hansen’s lover, father-of-three Celso Cabillan, left her house in Hayes, west London.

Shift worker Rodrigues had been at work the night before but was listening in on the couple’s date with a Micromax phone hidden in the living room, it was claimed.

He spent 158 hours listening in on Ms Hansen while he was at work or visiting India, where he was born, averaging three hours a day, it was claimed.

Rodrigues arrived home at 6.50am and shortly afterward “exploded with rage and brutally attacked” Ms Hansen, who was still in her pyjamas in her bedroom, said Gareth Patterson KC, prosecuting.

He told jurors: “She was stabbed multiple times in the neck. She was battered repeatedly to her head and face with a blunt object or objects. She suffered serious head injuries that involved the use of severe force.”

‘Long-standing obsession’

Mr Patterson told the court the defendant denied being the killer, but said there was a “wealth of evidence” he was responsible.

After Rodrigues’s arrest, police uncovered messages showing his “long-standing obsession” with Ms Hansen, jurors heard.

In 2015, he told her “I want u” and she replied “nope”, the court was told.

In 2021, he wrote: “It hurts to see you every day knowing you’ll never like me”, to which she responded: “I do like you but just not enough.”

Rodrigues appeared not to accept the rejection, offering to change and have surgery to alter his looks, jurors heard.

In April 2021, the pair moved into a house in Hayes to share bills. Messages between them suggested there had been some intimacy but Ms Hansen only wanted to be friends.

She wrote: “I knew it was a mistake the first time we went to bed. I should never have done it.”

The defendant begged for another chance and told her he would wait 50 years for her, the jury was told.

By late 2022, Ms Hansen was in a relationship with Mr Cabillan, which “angered” the defendant, the court heard.

Last November, he allegedly emailed Swissport under a fake name to complain that Mr Cabillan was “loitering” about and trying to have an “affair”. He followed up with another email alleging employees were smoking cannabis at work.

‘Psycho’ message

Jurors were told he bought a “Spycamera” device later found at the house.

Mr Patterson said: “Examination suggests the defendant used this device to try to make secret recordings inside the house, again showing his ongoing obsession with Stephanie Hansen and desire to monitor her relationship with her new boyfriend.”

A “spy plug” covert listening device was also found on a shelf in the defendant’s bedroom, the court was told.

On Dec 8, the defendant allegedly used the name Jamie Oliver to message Ms Hansen’s boyfriend via Facebook saying that his family would be kidnapped.

Two days later, he paid a man £100 to drive him around in a car and follow Mr Cabillan, it was alleged. Mr Cabillan realised he was being followed and reported it to police, but the defendant denied it.

On Dec 20, Rodrigues allegedly messaged Ms Hansen to say he had been a “psycho”.

But later that evening, he was searching the internet for “how to make a woman fall in love with him”, the court was told.

Defendant ‘prepared false defence’

The defendant was later to claim Mr Cabillan was the killer and wrote a letter to Swissport saying: “He killed my housemate Stephanie Hansen the night he stayed at the house. I found her upon returning home.”

Mr Patterson said she was alive and well after Mr Cabillan left, as she sent a string of text messages and used Siri on her phone.

She did not leave the house to go to Westfield shopping centre as she had planned, and WhatsApp messages from Mr Cabillan after 7am went unread, jurors were told.

The defendant set about laying a “false defence” by sending text messages to Ms Hansen’s phone asking where she was and pretending she was still at Westfield, it was claimed.

The defendant’s DNA, most likely from semen, was found on her stomach, it is alleged.

Mr Patterson said: “The evidence of the injuries shows that this was a vicious attack, the knife wounds numbering 20 in total, the blunt impact injuries numbering 39.”

Rodrigues, of Hayes, west London, denies murder. The trial continues.