Primary school teacher Sabina Nessa was killed in a “premeditated and predatory attack” as she walked through a park to meet a friend, it is alleged.
Her body was discovered nearly 24 hours later, covered in grass and leaves near to a community centre in the southeast London park.
Garage worker Koci Selamaj, 36, has been charged with murder and was remanded in custody by an Old Bailey judge on Thursday.
“Sabina Nessa was murdered on September 17 of this year,” said prosecutor Alison Morgan QC.
“There is no suggestion the deceased and the defendant were known to each other.
The prosecution alleges this was a premeditated and predatory attack on a stranger.”
The court heard Ms Nessa was struck repeatedly with a weapon, though the exact cause of death is not yet known.
Selamaj appeared at Willesden magistrates court on Tuesday, when his lawyer said he was plead not guilty to the murder charge.
Recorder of London Judge Mark Lucraft QC ordered Selamaj to return to court for a formal plea hearing on December 16. A trial date has not yet been set.
Selamaj, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, followed Thursday’s court hearing with the aid of an Albanian interpreter.
