Born in Fife, Scotland, Graham Coutts moved to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, when he was about 15 to live with his aunt and uncle.

He moved to Brighton in 1987 when he was 19 and his first job was with Stormseal double glazing, where he met Sandra Gates and Nicola Stainthorpe.

He learnt the guitar at 14 and supplemented his income playing in pubs.

Andrew Wellman, 34, was a close friend at school.

He remembers: "Graham had a very dry sense of humour and would keep a straight face as he said things.

"He was funny but not an out-and-out comedian. Academically, he was middling."

The pair hadn't spoken for two years until 2001 when Coutts sent Andrew an email inviting him to a reunion.

Andrew said: "He was really into independent music and putting on gigs in Hove. I went to the reunion and he was fine, although a bit bigger than he was before."

Another old school friend said: "I used to knock around with him at lot. He was quite sporty and played football.

"He had a boisterous sense of humour and once put a lit banger into the pocket of a lad's blazer."

Another said: "He didn't fit in and was quite a loner. He was just an odd, strange character."

Coutts' entry on the Friends Reunited web site reads: "Living in Brighton and making a rather enjoyable and interesting living from being a musician."

He had been in trouble with the police only once before the murder.

He was bound over to keep the peace by Brighton magistrates after assaulting an ex-boyfriend of his former girlfriend.

At the time of the murder Coutts was working as a part-time salesman for door-to-door cleaning goods company Kleeneze but his main interest was music.

He ran an agency supplying bands for weddings and parties and played in pubs in Brighton and Hove, Hastings and other Sussex towns.

He had a heart attack in 1999 and later held an all-day concert to raise money for the cardiac unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

He told The Argus then: "I'm lucky to be alive."

More than £1,300 was collected as 13 acts played during the Live For Live Music event at the Portland pub in Portland Road, Hove.

Coutts said: "It was a brilliant day. Everything went according to plan and the bands were very good."

He took over as booking agent and compre for the Portland and planned a Battle of the Bands competition.

Landlady Mary Charmont and landlord John Sturgeon knew him for nine months.

Miss Charmont said: "I found him pleasant enough, a quiet sort of chap and a very good guitarist.

"Lisa used to come here with him sometimes.

"She is more chatty and they seemed to complement each other. They had a row once when Lisa wanted to start a family and he didn't. He obviously came round to the idea in the end."

Mr Sturgeon said: "Graham was a timid sort of bloke and never had much to say. I never thought he was capable of anything like this."

There were those who were aware of Coutts' obsessions and noticed a dramatic change in him after Jane's disappearance.

One said: "I'd pop round his home to pick up music gear and stuff.

"He was pretty cool most of the time but he changed a lot after Jane vanished.

"He went quiet and introvert, not saying much. I now know why. Her body was at his place when I was there."

Jasper Vincent, 26, knew Coutts through the Brighton music scene.

He said: "I couldn't believe it when I heard they'd arrested Couttsey. My first thoughts were that he couldn't have done it.

"I don't think anybody that knew him could really believe it. He was a highly-respected guitar player and well known on the music scene.

"I met him and his girlfriend on Easter Monday (two days after Coutts had dumped Jane's body).

"It was a nice sunny day and they seemed in good spirits and excited about the pregnancy. Then on Wednesday he was arrested.

"They were a lovely couple. Couttsey liked a drink and could be rowdy, just like any other musician, and he has got a good sense of humour, quite dry.

"Like anybody he could be quiet and he was a private person but that's not unusual among musicians.

"He did a lot for the Brighton music scene - he booked gigs at his Big Bang agency and managed and championed local bands.

"He also ran a Brighton music web site where he advertised local gigs for free.

"We used to make jokes about his ever-changing hair colour. We used to call him Alistair Darling because of his bushy dark eyebrows beneath dyed blond hair."

Paul Mayhew, 31, said: "I knew him for six years and for two-and-a-half years played in The Substitute Who band.

"I never thought he was the type for something like this. Never thought he was capable."

As well as touring with various bands, Coutts made solo appearances.

In 2002 he performed "Thirty years of Britpop from The Kinks to Radiohead" at the Crown and Anchor pub in Preston Road, Brighton.

He previously played guitar for the mod band 17Black and was on the books of a talent agency for film and TV extras.