‘Jealous’ husband, 74, ‘beat estranged wife of 50 years to death with walking stick while calling her a ”w***e” after she boasted of her sex life without him’
- David Thomas is accused of lying in wait the murdering wife of 50 years Sheila
- But he says that he hit her over the head when she came after him with a knife
- Claims his wife told him that two of three daughters weren’t his on fateful day
- Mr Thomas from Herne Hill, south-east London, denies murder at Old Bailey
David Thomas (pictured) denies lying in wait and murdering his wife of 50 years
A husband accused of murdering his wife of 50 years after she left him for an old school friend said he battered her over the head when she came after him with a knife.
David Thomas, 74, lay in wait for Sheila, 69, after promising her he would be out when she stopped by to collect some belongings from their former home in Herne Hill, south London, it is claimed.
After demanding she tell him where she was now living, Mr Thomas hit her with a walking stick and allegedly stabbed her on July 24 last year.
Thomas told the Old Bailey jury he was in the house when his wife turned up, but she pushed him away when he tried to kiss her on the cheek in the hallway.
‘I loved her very much. I wanted her back,’ he told the court. ‘Then she started punching me. We were arguing. I think I said to her: “Why don’t you tell me where you are living.”
‘I was worried about her. She was going on about her sex life. We had been in separate beds for a long time.’
Jurors heard Mrs Thomas (pictured, left) was murdered by her husband after he lay in wait to exact his revenge for her leaving him to be with Victor Cassar (right)
Thomas said he knew his wife had been unfaithful several times, adding: ‘She kept on about this sex business. I think I called her a whore.’
Thomas claimed his wife then told him two of his three daughters where not his, adding: ‘I can’t really explain how that made me feel.’
He said his wife then dashed into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. ‘I ran up the stairs and she chased after me,’ he said. It was at this point he grabbed the shillelagh (Irish walking stick).
‘I hit her with it. I struck her head,’ he said. ‘I was in a daze. I may remember something, but I can’t say. I can’t explain it.’
When Mrs Thomas returned to the home to collect belongings he allegedly killed her
Mr Thomas claimed he can recall nothing more until the police arrived after a neighbour called the emergency services.
The broken walking stick was found in a bin together with his wife’s glasses.
Asked how they got there he said: ‘I don’t remember. Obviously I must have put them there.’
Mr Thomas denied that he had been lying in wait for his wife so that he could ‘seek revenge’.
The couple married in 1966, but Sheila claimed that life with Thomas had ‘been hell’ and described having felt unhappy in the relationship for the past four decades.
She called an end to it at the end of June last year after beginning an affair with Victor Cassar, also 74, an old friend she reunited with months earlier on Facebook.
Mr Thomas, of Herne Hill, southeast London, denies murder. The trial continues.
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