A British car salesman who claimed his wife choked to death during a sex game that went horribly wrong has admitted killing her at his Spanish court trial.
Warren Lyttle, 52, made his dramatic confession after taking the witness stand following an eleventh-hour plea bargain with prosecutors who were demanding a murder conviction and 20-year jail sentence.
Jurors at a criminal court in the Majorcan capital Palma were told that as part of a deal involving him owning up to ending his wife’s life, the British expat was now facing a lesser charge of homicide and 12-year prison sentence.
Lyttle was arrested in January last year after police and paramedics he called to his home in Costa de la Calma a short drive from the Majorcan holiday resort of Magaluf, found Lisa Jane, 49, dead.
Warren Lyttle, 52, made his dramatic confession after taking the witness stand following an eleventh-hour plea bargain with prosecutors who were demanding a murder conviction and 20-year jail sentence. Pictured: Lyttle in court today
A post-mortem showed the mum-of-one, who lived in Kilburn, north London but travelled regularly to Majorca to spend time with her husband, had died from asphyxia due to strangulation.
Lisa Jane had only flown to Majorca two days before she was killed in the early hours of January 23, 2016 for a week’s holiday.
Her self-confessed killer told a judge in a remand hearing 24 hours later that she choked to death during a sado-masochistic role-play she proposed.
Lyttle was arrested in January last year after police and paramedics he called to his home in Costa de la Calma a short drive from the Majorcan holiday resort of Magaluf, found Lisa Jane, 49, dead
No mention was made at the start of the trial, which began shortly before midday once the nine jurors had been selected, about the sex game claims
State prosecutors, making it clear they did not believe his claims, said in an indictment drafted earlier this year: ‘Around 3am on January 23, 2106 Warren Lyttle had an argument with his wife during which with the aim of ending her life, and in a sudden, surprise and unexpected fashion, which left her unable to defend herself, he attacked her with a mobile phone cable.
‘He placed it round her neck and strangled her with it, compressing her neck and causing her death from a lack of oxygen.’
Lyttle, who has been behind bars since his arrest, was brought to court early this morning in a police van.
No mention was made at the start of the trial, which began shortly before midday once the nine jurors had been selected, about the sex game claims.
Lyttle said after taking the witness stand: ‘We argued about money and because we had been drinking.’
A post-mortem showed mum-of-one Lisa Jane, who lived in Kilburn, north London but travelled regularly to Majorca to spend time with her husband, had died from asphyxia due to strangulation
Pictured: Lyttle’s apartment in Costa de la Calma, a short drive from the Majorcan holiday resort of Magaluf
The couple’s grown-up daughter also gave evidence and claimed her mum had been a victim of domestic violence.
The trial is expected to continue tomorrow with evidence from police and forensic experts, but may be shortened because of the plea deal and Lyttle’s trial admission which makes his 12-year prison sentence on a homicide conviction a foregone conclusion.
The charge of homicide in Spain is a halfway house between manslaughter and the more serious charge of murder and carries a ten to 15-year prison sentence.
Under Spanish law murder like homicide is a wilful killing but it must also be premeditated and pre-planned.