Briton jailed for millionaire girlfriend's murder

A British businessman was jailed Saturday for murdering his millionaire girlfriend in a Paris hotel suite five years ago.

Ian Griffin, 45, from Cheshire, was arrested in June 2009, after Kinga Legg was found dead in their 1,000 pounds (about $1,560) a night room at the five-star Hotel Le Bristol, BBC reported.

The businessman had denied killing her, claiming he could not recall what happened and woke up to find the room in a chaotic state, before discovering Legg's body.

He was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years by the French criminal court (Cour D'Assises) in Paris.

A maid had discovered Legg's battered body in the bathtub.

According to authorities, after the murder Griffin spent several hours cleaning the room and hung a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door, before driving back to Britain in his Porsche 911, later recovered from an address in Warrington, Cheshire, where he grew up.

The couple had a turbulent and physically violent relationship.

A few weeks before she died, Legg had reportedly sent a text message to a friend, describing how Griffin had pressured her to take an overdose of sleeping pills.

Legg, 36, who lived in a mansion in Surrey with Griffin, was found in the blood-spattered hotel room with multiple injures and more than 100 marks on her body.

The Polish-born millionaire, who ran her family's supermarket produce supply business 'Vegex', died of internal bleeding.