AMERICAN SENT TO GALLOWS OVER MURDER

63-year-old murdered ex-wife in Brickfields hotel 2 years ago

THE atmosphere at the High Court here yesterday was sombre after United States citizen Mickelson Gerald Wayne was sent to the gallows for murdering his ex-wife two years ago.

A group of people, believed to be Wayne’s relatives and friends, who were present during the proceedings, wept after judge Datuk Azman Abdullah meted out the sentence.

A woman clad in a white shirt was seen wiping Wayne’s tears and hugging him after the proceedings.

The 63-year-old engineering consultant was charged with killing fellow-American Guilda Mickelson, 62, in the room of a hotel at Lingkaran Syed Putra, Brickfields, here, between 5am and 11.45am on Nov 26, 2016.

Wayne was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which provides for death by hanging upon conviction.

In his judgment, Azman said the defence failed to cast reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.

“The accused failed to provide evidence that the injuries sustained by the deceased (were incurred in) an act of self-defence.

“The (pathology report showed) that the fatal injury as (incurred through) manual strangulation of the neck. Upon consideration of the evidence adduced, as provided by Section 182A(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, the court found that the prosecution had proven a case beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.

Deputy public prosecutor Azeezi Nordin said based on the investigation, a minor scuffle took place between the couple, which led to the incident.

“The couple had been married for 30 years, but were staying together after their divorce.

“During the probe, Wayne said he got into an argument with his ex-wife, who did not allow him to move to the Philippines.

“In their report, pathologists said they found a fracture on Mickelson’s head due to blunt force trauma. Mickelson’s hyoid bone (located in the neck) was broken, which proved that she was manually strangled by the accused.”