Married speedboat killer Jack Shepherd, 31, was in a romantic relationship with glamorous TV journalist, 24, while on the run in Georgia – leaving his wife and child back home in Britain

Married speedboat killer Jack Shepherd was in a romantic relationship with a glamorous TV journalist while on the run in Georgia, the Mail can reveal.

The father-of-one wined and dined Maiko Tchanturidze for months. He is understood to have given her his version of what happened to his 24-year-old victim Charlotte Brown.

Miss Tchanturidze, also 24, encouraged the 31-year-old killer to hand himself in and was with him when he was driven to the police station.

The amateur model sat by Shepherd’s side on Wednesday night when he told a Georgian TV station that Miss Brown’s death was a ‘tragic accident’.

Shepherd married his unnamed fiancee just two months after killing Miss Brown. It is thought she was pregnant at the time of the death. She is now raising their child, three, alone. His wife threw him out after discovering he had cheated on her.

Last night a source told the Mail of the Georgian romance: ‘They have become close in recent months and have made no secret of their relationship.

‘Maiko is very supportive of him and feels that he has been treated unfairly by the British legal system. But it got to the point when she felt that he could no longer live as a fugitive and had to hand himself in. She wanted to be with him when he did it, so he had someone to support him.’

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