THE son of a man accused of murdering his secret wife has told a court he thought that her body might have been in the boot of a car he drove to a quiet residential street.

Jonathan Legris confirmed that he moved a Fiat Punto from Knyveton Road in Bournemouth to Verwood Crescent in Christchurch on Wednesday, May 28 – five days after prosecutors allege nurse Rui Li was murdered by her husband Pierre Legris at their home in Burnham Drive.

The 44-year-old’s body was discovered in the vehicle on Friday, May 30. She had suffered a severe head injury.

Yesterday, as he gave evidence to jurors at Winchester Crown Court, Jonathan Legris said he moved the car out of “loyalty” to his father, who was arrested on suspicion of murder in the early hours of Tuesday, May 27.

“He asked me [to move the Punto],” he said.

“I just didn’t want to believe my dad was involved in [Ms Li’s death] so I moved it.”

Bernard Tetlow QC, who represents the defendant, asked: “From what your father had told you, what did you assume was in the boot?”

He replied: “I wasn’t 100 per cent sure. I never looked. But I assumed it was Rui’s body.”

He alleged that father Pierre Legris had the evening before taken him to the Christopher Creeke pub in Bournemouth to tell him Ms Li was dead.

Hours earlier, Pierre Legris had visited the police station in the town to report her missing.

Jonathan Legris, 27, said: “He [Pierre Legris] told me that Rui Li was dead.

“I can’t remember [all the details]. The whole evening merged into the same moment.”

Questioned further, he said: “At one stage he told me he found her dead in Burnham Drive and that he panicked, wrapped her up and put her in the boot of a car.”

He said he felt “shocked, stunned, lost”, and had encouraged his father to tell the police.

He added: “I made several assumptions. I didn’t want to query him too much because I felt massively awkward.

“My dad felt massively awkward too – he was confiding in me.

“He said he’d found her. I was thinking otherwise as well. In my head [I was thinking] he’s just told me she’s dead – [there are] always other possibilities. I didn’t know what to think or say or do.”

Jonathan Legris, of Spring Road, denies assisting an offender by knowingly driving the Punto with the body of Ms Li in the boot to Verwood Crescent, and conspiracy to commit murder.

Pierre Legris, 61, denies murder.

Irene Smith, 66, of St Clement’s Road, denies conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of perverting the course of justice.

The trial continues.