Man killed his wife in ‘barbaric’ sword attack
AJEALOUS husband stabbed his wife to death with a samurai sword in an attack of ‘barbaric savagery’ after discovering she was having an affair, a court heard.
Darren Merriman, 40, was jailed for life on Thursday for the murder of Elizabeth Merriman at their home in Newhey.
Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court heard Elizabeth, 39, was stabbed repeatedly in a ‘frenzied attack’ in the couple’s bedroom on October 22 last year.
It’s thought she died almost instantly.
The couple, who had been together for 16 years, were experiencing relationship problems in the months before Elizabeth’s death, the court was told.
Last summer Elizabeth, a carer for children with behavioural problems, began having an affair with another man, it was heard.
By September her behaviour had aroused the suspicions of her husband, who began sending threatening texts and making threatening phone calls to the man in question.
On the day of the murder, Merriman spent the afternoon and evening drinking with a pal in pubs in Newhey and Shaw.
Tests conducted later revealed he was twoand-a-half times the drink drive limit.
Just before 8pm that night he sent a ‘sinister’ text to another friend which read: “Yeah man I ready for jail pal. 16 years ha ha. Gonna do best I can for now. Play the game but then go mental when needed.”
About two hours later he returned to their home on Birch Crescent and began arguing with his wife about the affair.
At some point during the row Elizabeth admitted she was seeing another man.
Merriman then repeatedly stabbed her with what was described as a katana, an Indonesian ‘samurai-style’ sword with a 50cm long blade, which had been bought on a family holiday and was kept on top of a wardrobe in the bedroom.
The emergency services were called, but Elizabeth was pronounced dead at the scene.
Merriman was found by police at about 3.45am the following morning, parked up in their Ford Fusion in a ‘secluded area’ on Lower Lane.
He had stabbed himself several times.
It is also thought he may have earlier tried to hang himself in Stanney Brook Park in nearby Milnrow.
He was arrested five days later after undergoing life-saving surgery.
In a statement read out in court, Elizabeth’s dad Graham Shuttleworth said he couldn’t stop thinking about how ‘terrified’ Elizabeth must have been, but what ‘really preyed’ on his mind was that the ‘person who did this should have been the person protecting her’.
Michael Hayton QC, defending, read a note out to the court Merriman had written.
It said: “I cannot ask for forgiveness because I will never forgive myself.
“No words or actions can ever undo the horrible things I have done.”
Mr Hayton said Merriman ‘did not recall, hardly at all’ the attack, adding he suffered a ‘total loss of self control’, after Elizabeth admitted she was having an affair.
Wearing a shortsleeved blue shirt Merriman sat with his head bowed for much of the 80 minute hearing and showed no emotion when he was sent down.
Sentencing on Thurs- day, Judge John Potter said he accepted the attack was not premeditated ‘despite the morbid text’, but said Merriman must serve a minimum of 18 and a half years before he will be considered for parole.
The judge added: “The evidence shows your attack on your wife armed with a fearsome weapon was sustained and determined. It was an attack of barbaric savagery on a defenceless woman in what should have been the safety and sanctuary of her own home.”
He said it was ‘a frenzied attack’, adding: “These were the actions of someone with a clear intention to kill, rather than just cause serious harm. Your actions were fuelled by alcohol and your rage inspired by jealousy and anger.
“Every case of murder ends one life but also affects the lives of many others.
“Elizabeth Merriman was a caring and good person. She touched the lives of others with her kindness. Socially she was fun and full of her life.
“Her death can properly be described as a senseless act, which has taken from those closest to her and her community as a whole a much loved person.”
Speaking after the case senior investigating officer Duncan Thorpe, of GMP’s Major Incident Support Unit, said: “On the night of Sunday 22 October 2017, Elizabeth was brutally murdered by her husband, a man who she had been in a relationship with for 16 years and should have been able to trust more than anyone else.”