A cheating husband killed his wife 'in cold blood' after secretly taking out a £250,000 insurance policy on her life. Christopher Daffin, 43, ran down his wife Colette as she walked to work in the early morning.
He claimed he killed her in the heat of the moment, but Daffin is beginning a 25-year jail sentence for her murder. The electrician, who had been spotted 'lurking' in bushes nearby wearing dark clothing and sunglasses, had tried to make the tragedy look like a hit and run accident.
Minutes after the killing on July 8, he feigned surprise when one of his wife's colleagues rang to say she had not arrived at work at 6am. But detectives began to suspect him when he showed a lack of concern on learning his wife of 15 years had been killed in a road accident.
Police later discovered Daffin had allegedly been involved in an 'on-off' affair for at least two years, with a woman he met while working at her home. It also emerged he had forged his 43-year-old wife's signature on a £250,000 life insurance policy a year before her death. He then bought the 4x4 car used in the killing under a false name, never registering, taxing or insuring it.
Nottingham Crown Court was told Daffin claimed he had killed his wife in the heat of the moment after a blazing row. But prosecutors said it was a premeditated killing. Judge Jonathan Teare agreed, telling Daffin the murder was planned and carried out in 'cold, and not hot blood'. The judge was told how the electrician had 'lain in wait' for Mrs Daffin as she walked to work as a breakfast waitress at the Ringwood Hall Hotel near Chesterfield.
Nirmal Shant QC, prosecuting, told the court he used a Vauxhall Frontera bought in secret using a false name nine months earlier. Mrs Shant said a motorist travelling 80 yards behind Daffin watched as he swerved on to the pavement and hit Mrs Daffin before driving back on to the road without braking. Mrs Daffin was struck at about 30mph and dragged a short distance before being thrown clear of the car. She died of head injuries.
Her husband then drove to a derelict pub and abandoned the 4x4 vehicle before walking to the van he used for work and driving home. Before police arrived at the family home in Chesterfield, Daffin changed out of the clothes he had been spotted in earlier. But they were later found in a bag in his van, along with the registration document for the Frontera.
Mrs Shant said a year before murdering his wife, Daffin had taken out a life insurance policy in her name, forging her signature on the application form.
Judge Teare told him that although killing her may not have been his motive for taking out the policy, it was 'certainly in his mind'. He added: 'It was taken out at a time when you were having an active affair with another woman. 'I am satisfied it was in your mind that £250,000 would be coming your way if your wife died and no blame was attached to you.'
The court heard that Mrs Daffin confided in a friend two months before she died that she suspected her husband of having an affair. He had also threatened to kill her by running her over 'when there was no one there', the friend, Marie Shepherd, told the court.
Miss Shepherd said she tried to reassure Mrs Daffin that her husband must have been 'messing about' and asked her how he would get away with it 'with all the forensics'. But Mrs Daffin replied: 'Apparently he's got another car.'
Daffin was jailed for life and told he must serve at least 25 years before being eligible for release. Mrs Daffin's father, John Oliver, said: 'I'm satisfied with the sentence, but there are no winners in this case. I'd have been in favour of capital punishment - I don't see why the taxpayer should keep him for 25 years.' Daffin was sentenced April 8.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment