Cheshire man who bludgeoned his wife to death with a crowbar faces mandatory life sentence
Bespectacled computer expert David Pomphret, 51, battered wife Ann Marie, 49, with the weapon, striking her more than 30 times over the head at the stables where they kept horses near their home in Winwick, Cheshire, on November 2 last year.
Pomphret protested his innocence but was "undone" after a speck of blood on his socks showed he was at the scene.
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Hide AdThe Barclays IT worker was convicted of murder last Friday after a two-week trial and faces a mandatory life sentence, with the judge setting a minimum term before parole.
Pomphret dialled 999 saying he had found his wife of 22 years lying in a pool of blood, "very dead". He added: "There is brain and blood everywhere, and it looks like she has had her head beaten in."
He denied planning the murder then tried to cover his tracks, telling the jury: "One of Marie's favourite TV programmes was CSI and one of the things they always said is you can't get rid of blood."
Pomphret was given bail but was re-arrested four months later after police found "airborne blood" on his socks, which was dubbed a "huge mistake".
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Hide AdHe then had to change his story, the jury was told, and admitted manslaughter, tearfully telling Liverpool Crown Court he "killed the woman I loved".
Instead he blamed his "volatile" wife's behaviour, denying murder and claiming a special defence of a temporary loss of control.
He will be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court later on Tuesday.