‘Terrified’ British woman, 52, accused of killing her husband in Malaysia ‘after years of domestic abuse’ may be spared death penalty
- Samantha Jones faced being hanged for killing her husband John last October
- But charge over 62-year-old husband’s death may be reduced to manslaughter
- She claimed she was defending herself after he drunkenly punched and beat her
Samantha Jones, left, is accused of killing her husband John, right, in Malaysia but she may be spared the death penalty
A British woman accused of stabbing her husband to death in Malaysia – after allegedly suffering years of domestic abuse – may be spared the death penalty.
Samantha Jones, 52, was told last year she would be hanged if found guilty of murdering her 62-year-old husband John on Langkawi island last October.
But her defence lawyers said she was a ‘victim’, alleging that her late husband had beaten her repeatedly in drunken outbursts.
She may be charged with manslaughter rather than murder, in a possible move which has ‘given her real hope’, the Daily Express reported.
Her lawyer said: ‘We went to court again and the prosecution told me they now have all the documents, including the post mortem, and would be reconsidering the charge.’
The lawyer, Sangeet Kaur Deo, said: ‘She was so relieved. It has been terrifying for her and this has given her real hope.’
Mr Jones had given his wife a ‘broken jaw’ years earlier and pulled her hair out in violent attacks, the lawyer claimed.
Deo said the accused woman’s husband would ‘go from nice John to crazy psycho John’ leaving her terrified.
Executions in Malaysia are also on hold as the government considers abolishing the death penalty.
In October police found a blood-stained kitchen knife in the home Jones shared with her husband on the island of Langkawi.
Samantha Jones, right, is led away from police prison cells last year after she was arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband
Jones was charged with stabbing her husband with the 12-inch weapon at the couple’s bungalow.
She alleged to police that her husband had punched her in the face and kicked her in the stomach after a night of drinking.
She had only attacked the retired firefighter in self-defence when he chased after her, she claimed.
Her husband was fatally wounded by the knife attack and was dead by the time an ambulance crew arrived at the £200,000 villa.
They had moved to the tropical island 11 years ago under the Malaysia My Second Home scheme, which gives foreigners long-stay visas.
Her husband was a retired chief fire officer in Yeovil, Somerset, and had returned from a visit to his family in England shortly before his death.