Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Midsomer murderer shopped by his ex
A BURGLAR whose ex-wife turned him in to police after he beat a grandmother to death at a house which featured in ITV’S Midsomer Murders has been jailed for life.
Cristian Sabou, 28, would have got away with murder if not for the bravery of his ex-wife Claudia, who is now in line for a £20,000 reward.
The Romanian broke into the £1.6million home and left artist Valerie Graves, 55, with head injuries “similar to those seen in a high speed head-on car crash,” a court heard yesterday.
He was on the run for six years until Claudia found he had searched “murder in Bosham” and viewed an image of the murder weapon on his phone.
It was a claw hammer with a distinctive handle which she recognised and confronted him but he threatened to kill her. She said: “I knew he worked at the house. I asked, ‘What is this all about?’.
“I said, ‘Isn’t this the hammer you had in England?’. He said, ‘Don’t break up with me and keep your mouth shut if you don’t want me to cut your throat – and our two daughters’.”
Claudia plucked up the courage to call Sussex Police when Sabou returned to the UK to cover his tracks and collect belongings in September last year.
He was arrested in Dej, Transylvania, on July 10. He confessed the following day in court in Cluj-napoca, after the Mirror asked him if he had anything to say to Valerie’s family.
Speaking from her farm near Clujnapoca in Transylvania, she said: “I was afraid because I thought he had killed once, he might do it again. Claudia, who is in her 20s, said she now fears her ex has friends who will “avenge” him.
Sabou brutally attacked Valerie in Bosham, West Sussex, on the night of December 30, 2013, just five days after her 55th birthday on Christmas Day.
He showed no emotion at Lewes crown court as he was sentenced to life, with a minimum 24 years behind bars, minus time spent on remand.
Judge Christine Laing QC described the murder as a “savage attack” with multiple repeated blows. She said Valerie’s injuries “were similar to those seen in a high speed head-on car crash”.
She added: “I am quite satisfied this was a sustained attack and the terror and trauma for her in the final few moments of her life are unimaginable.
“Were it not for the decency and courage of your wife, this murder would have remained unsolved.”
Valerie was housesitting with her sister, Janet, 60, their mum Eileen, 87, and her sister’s architect partner, Nigel Acres, 59, when she was killed.
The case sparked one of the biggest voluntary mass DNA screenings in British criminal history after a match to the killer was made at the scene.
Valerie’s son Tim Wood told how she had moved from Scotland not long before to be closer to her family. They had been excited to spend Christmas and Valerie’s birthday together.
“She was a free spirit who enjoyed her life and was a talented artist,” he said.
“She had lived in Scotland for 10 years, a place she loved and which inspired her passion for art. This has been devastating for the family and has come as a complete shock.”
In a statement, her family said she was “very much loved and sorely missed by all of us. She was kind and caring”.
They told Sabou: “You took away our mum, who was also a sister, daughter, gran and friend to many – a life of someone who can never be replaced.
“Sadly, Val’s mother passed away never knowing justice has been served.”