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A man has been charged with the murder of his wife in April after confessing his guilt to a young woman at a local pub, the Swansea Crown Court heard on 8 November.
Derek Potter (64), a builder from South Wales in Britain, tried to cover up the killing of his wife of 26 years by making it look as if she’d hung herself in their home, Mirror reports.
Just days before Lesley Potter’s body was set to be released for cremation on 5 May, her husband went for a drink with a colleague, Natalia Mikhailoea-Kisselevskaia (32) and told her what really happened, Telegraph reports.
“We were still on our first pints when he said, ‘I’ve got to tell you something,’ ” she told the court.
“He said, ‘I love my wife very much but she was doing my head in so I strangled her.’ ”
She said while she initially thought he was joking, the fact that he said the words with a straight face and no laughter indicated to her that he was guilty, BBC reports.
She then tipped police off and an investigation into the matter began.
A post mortem found Lesley had several internal injuries, 30 rib fractures and more than 30 bruises over her neck, face, arms, back, legs and feet.
“Mr Potter killed his wife by strangling her, using his hands,” prosecutor Elwen Evans told the court.
“He then tried to cover up what he’d done by pretending she’d suspended herself with a ligature. He almost got away with that pretence,” he added.
Potter denied killing his wife, saying she committed suicide or was strangling herself for sexual pleasure, adding that they engaged in a variety of sexual acts and role-playing.
The trial continues but Potter is expected to be sentenced to at least 17 years in prison, according to Justice Michael Soole.
“I’ve concluded that you strangled her without premeditation, in a sudden and furious burst of temper, and that you there and then set about trying to cover it up by the pretence that she’d committed suicide,” he said.
