A retired factory worker from the United Kingdom who admitted to strangling his wife just days after the first national coronavirus blockage was found not guilty of murder.
Anthony Williams, 70, told police in Wales that he “literally stifled the light of life” to his 46-year-old wife, Ruth, at their home in Cwmbran on March 28, five days after the closure of Britain, which left him “depressed”. reported Independent.
Williams told detectives he killed his 67-year-old wife after she “broke up” during an argument. He retired from the factory job 18 months earlier and failed to cope well, according to the report.
“I’m sorry, I just broke up,” he told officers on the spot. “I am sorry.”
Williams strangled his wife with a robe rope, according to Sun, who also noted that the frightening attack was the first reported blockade killing. Prosecutors said he went to a neighbor’s house after the murder and confessed.
“She’s dead, we killed her – we argued and strangled her,” Williams told an operator. “You have to come right away.”
The responding police found Ruth Williams on the couple’s porch while holding a set of keys. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital, where doctors found hemorrhages in her eyes, face and mouth, as well as five neck fractures, the Sun reported.
During the trial, jurors heard recordings of Williams insisting to police that his wife’s death “was not a crime,” claiming that he “did not want” to kill her.
“I just overturned, it wasn’t me,” Williams told officers, according to Sun. “I wouldn’t hurt a fly, it wasn’t me, I’m not like that and I don’t know what happened to me.”
A Swansea Crown court jury unanimously ruled Williams out of murder Monday.
A psychologist testified that Williams’ anxiety and depression were “heightened” by the strict blockade of COVID-19 and affected his ability to control his actions, Independent reported.
Williams’ former job had been “one of his main coping mechanisms” for his “neurotic mood,” psychologist Alison Witts told the court.
A second psychologist told jurors that Williams did not have a “psychiatric” defense for the murder, saying he had no history of depression.
“[Williams] he knew what he was doing at the time, “psychologist Damian Gamble told the court.
Meanwhile, the couple’s daughter said she feared her father would “get out of control” a few months earlier, telling her he believed the couple would lose their home, despite not having a mortgage and savings. over $ 205,000, the BBC reported.
The father, who previously pleaded guilty to murder due to reduced responsibility, will be convicted on Thursday on the lower charge.