Dubai editor pleads not guilty to wife’s murder

dubai — Gulf News editor-at-large Francis Matthew, 61, pleaded not guilty to the charge of premeditatedly murdering his wife as he appeared in the court on Wednesday.

When the presiding judge of the Court of First Instance, Erfan Attieh, read out the charges, Matthew replied by saying: “No. I’m not guilty.”

The public prosecution, which is seeking the maximum penalty for Matthew, has accused him of intentionally killing his wife, Jane, following a heated argument. “Around 5.45pm on July 4, a case of serious injury was reported by the police to paramedics. By the time the paramedics reached the villa in Umm Suqeim 1, they found the body of a woman lying in a pool of blood,” said a police officer.

The accused told the police that he had left home for work at 8am and returned at 5pm only to find his wife “lifeless on her bed”. Spatters of blood were found on the floor of the corridor leading to the bedroom and inside the room itself. Her valuables were found dispersed around the room and a safe was removed from its place.

During investigation, the police began to suspect the husband was the killer. “At first, he denied killing his wife, but later admitted to it. He said he had been having financial troubles for two years due to loans. And one week before the incident day, he had told his wife

At first, he denied killing his wife, but later admitted to it. He said he had been having financial troubles for two years due to loans. A police officer

they would move out of the villa as the rent was high. They had an argument over it,” the officer said.

Over dinner on July 3, the couple had the same argument, with Jane saying she did not want to leave the villa. At 7am, she woke him up to have the same talk. As he went to the kitchen, she followed him and started pushing him, which enraged him. He allegedly picked up a hammer and followed her to the bedroom, where he hit her twice on her head.

He reportedly knew she was dead as he saw her bleeding. After trying to cover up the crime and disposing of the hammer in a garbage bin, he went to work.

Defence lawyer Ali Al Shamsi told the court he would go through the case file and present his requests at the next hearing. “Some family members had dropped their accusations and would no longer pursue the lawsuit against my client.”

Al Shamsi also said he would have to read the statements of the witnesses before the cross-examination in court. The next hearing has been set for October 25.

mary@khaleejtimes.com