Man murdered postmistress wife

Robin Garbutt bludgeoned wife Diana with metal bar as she slept before pretending armed robber had struck A shopkeeper who bludgeoned his postmistress wife to death as she slept then blamed an armed robber has been convicted of her murder. Robin Garbutt, 45, knew his wife Diana had been unfaithful and feared his theft of thousands of pounds from the post office they ran in Melsonby, North Yorkshire, was about to be discovered. A jury at Teesside crown court rejected his story that a man with a gun told him: “Don’t do anything stupid, we’ve got your wife”, before robbing him as he worked in the shop, and that moments later he discovered her lifeless body in bed. Garbutt shook his head as he was convicted by the jury of eight men and four women by a majority of 10 to two.The panel had been deliberating for 12 hours and 50 minutes. His sister collapsed in tears as the verdict was announced. Diana Garbutt’s mother, Agnes Gaylor, also wept. Mr Justice Openshaw was expected to sentence Garbutt on Tuesday. Garbutt hit his wife three times over the head with a metal bar while she slept in the living quarters above the Melsonby village shop and post office in the early hours of 23 March last year. He later opened the shop as normal, served about 60 customers, then closed it again. He dialled 999 and claimed his wife had been attacked, crying hysterically on the phone, then when a paramedic told him rigor mortis had set in, challenged it, saying “she’s still warm”. He told police a raider had come in and robbed him, then when he ran upstairs his wife was motionless, face down on the bed. His story unravelled after police delved into the secrets of his seemingly happy marriage. They found the couple owed £30,000 in credit card debts and, despite the long hours Garbutt worked, were making little profit. The couple were due to go on holiday to the US, where his wife’s father was from, and Garbutt is thought to have feared that a relief postmaster would discover thousands of pounds were missing from the business. Police also found his wife, 40, had become involved with three men and was searching online for men aged 35-50 to date. The couple had discussed splitting up and the prosecution said Garbutt faced a future with no assets if that happened because they were in his wife’s name. Crucial evidence came from a meal of fish and chips the couple ate the night before Mrs Garbutt died. An expert on digestion told the jury she had stopped processing the meal about six to eight hours after she finished eating, giving a likely time of death in the early hours rather than at about 8.30am when Garbutt claimed the robber struck. David Hatton QC, prosecuting, told the jury: “One of the questions you will have to consider, if you accept this evidence, is the likelihood of a robber or robbers being prepared to violently kill a female sleeping in her own bed at all – but then, having done so, to wait for four to six hours before going downstairs to rob the post office. “And then, it has to be said, having been prepared to bludgeon the lady to death upstairs and wait for that length of time, to leave the defendant himself unharmed and unrestrained to raise the alarm.” Crime guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 19, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.