Life sentence for killer who stabbed his partner to death..then had beer and a fag
In 999 call, murderer said victim had knifed herself
A JEALOUS man who murdered his partner by stabbing her 11 times in a frenzied attack was yesterday jailed for life.
David Payne, 51, knifed Alexis Flynn, 42, because he thought she was having an affair.
During a 999 call, Payne initially claimed Alexis had attacked him with a knife and that he had only stabbed her two or three times.
When police arrived, he was smoking a cigarette and drinking a can of beer.
At the High Court in Glasgow, he was ordered to serve at least 14-and-a-half years before he can apply for parole.
At the time of the offence, Payne, from Kilmarnock, was barred from approaching Alexis after an alleged assault on her.
Judge Lord Burns told him: “You have accepted responsibility not only for the death of your partner, Alexis Flynn, but also murdering her.
“It appears the assault was a sustained one with a knife and she was found with a total of 11 stab wounds on various parts of her body, inflicted with a substantial-sized knife. “The assault must have been prolonged and it’s somewhat chilling you were found apparently calm, smoking a cigarette, drinking a can of beer.”
The court heard Payne called 999 and said his partner was dead.
Advocate depute Liam Ewing said: “He told the call handler the deceased was lying on the living room floor, having stabbed herself multiple times on her side, stomach and back. He stated she attacked him with a knife, that he had turned it back on her and the knife went into her two or three times.”
When police arrived at the house, Alexis was lying on the floor with “obvious stab wounds over her stomach and back”. She was in the foetal position with a large, silver kitchen knife in her right hand.
Ewing added: “Payne was sitting on a couch next to the deceased. He was smoking a cigarette and drinking from a can of beer.”
There was blood staining in parts of the living room and hallway.
Forensic investigations suggested there had been a struggle in the hall and an attempt to get to the front door. Blood was also found on kitchen taps.
Officers took the knife out of Alexis’s hand and started CPR but saw she had been dead for some time. Payne told officers “she stabbed herself ”.
During a police interview the next day, Payne, who has previous convictions for breach of the peace and a domestic assault on his ex-wife, claimed Alexis was attacked by a neighbour.
Ewing said a post-mortem revealed she died of a stab wound to the leg that damaged large blood vessels that “would have caused rapid and profuse blood loss and death”.
There were other stab wounds to her body – including her torso, arms and left thigh – and her lungs were damaged.
The court heard the injuries to her lungs, stomach and kidney were “potentially survivable” but the stab wound on the left thigh was “catastrophic”.
Injuries around her arms were said to be defensive injuries.
Defence counsel Kevin McCallum said the catalyst was Payne’s “perceived relationship, as he saw it, between the deceased and a third party”.
He said that person had been with them earlier and all three had argued.
McCallum added: “The argument between Payne and the deceased flared up again on the same subject matter.”
It was claimed Alexis got the knife from the kitchen and Payne took it from her and used it on her.