A fitness trainer accused of killing Walton business woman Kate Beagley said she was alive when he left her, a court heard.
Karl Taylor, 27, said in a statement that he and the 32-year-old arranged to meet in Twickenham last May, a week after they first met in a nightclub.
Kate was later found stabbed to death in woodland after a frenzied knife attack.
Taylor, from Kemble Street, Covent Garden, said: "We drove to somewhere near Twickenham Rugby Stadium. We stayed in the car and chatted."
He said they arranged to meet again soon' and then left each other in Twickenham.
Taylor denies murder and the trial continues.
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