A man accused of murdering Catherine Wells-Burr in Somerset installed a spy camera concealed in an alarm clock in their bedroom, a court has heard.
Rafal Nowak, 31, was said to have used the clock to record "intimate" scenes between himself and his 23-year-old girlfriend.
The clock had a secret compartment for a micro card and a tiny camera and voice recorder on the front, the court was told.
Nowak is alleged to have hatched a plot with his jealous former partner Anna Lagwinowicz, 32, and her uncle Tadevsz Dmytryszyn, 38, to kill Miss Wells-Burr for her six-figure life insurance policy.
The court was told police were only made aware of the recording device in April this year, when they received a tip from a cell mate of Lagwinowicz.
Anna Joyce, 21, was allegedly told of the existence of the device by Lagwinowicz, who is also said to have shown her a picture of Miss Wells-Burr's body "like a trophy".
The clock was on the far right of a shelf on Nowak's side of the bed, the court heard.
Detective Constable Ziggy Bennett, of Avon and Somerset police, said officers seized the clock after receiving the tip.
DC Bennett said a micro card found in Nowak's wallet when he was arrested contained footage from the clock.
The jury was also shown a letter written by Lagwinowicz in prison, purporting to be from a "hit man" hired to kill Miss Wells-Burr.
Lagwinowicz allegedly spent weeks writing the letter to extricate herself and Dmytryszyn before asking Miss Joyce to post it.
The letter mentioned an MP3 player, containing recordings from the home of Miss Wells-Burr, in Willow Way, Chard, having been planted in Lagwinowicz's home, the court heard.
