The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Murder verdict appealed
Nurse wants conviction for killing disabled husband overturned
A nurse found guilty of murdering her disabled husband by injecting him with insulin has had her legal fight to clear her name put on hold.
Deborah Winzar (54) was jailed for life at Birmingham Crown Court in 2000 after being convicted of the murder of 34-year-old Dominic McCarthy, the manager of the Kingfisher Care Centre for the mentally and physically disabled in Bretton, Peterborough.
Her case has been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which investigates possible miscarriages of justice, and a hearing was due to take place on Monday.
But senior judges adjourned her case so expert medical evidence can be obtained.
Lord Justice Irwin said the case has an “extraordinary history” and should be resolved as soon as possible.
He told the court: “We cannot go on middling this case, there has to be a decisive conclusion.”
Mr McCarthy, who was paralysed in a motorcycle accident in 1984, was found collapsed in his bed at the couple’s home in Stonely, Cambridgeshire, on January 31, 1997. He lapsed into a coma and died in Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon on February 9.
Tests revealed Mr McCarthy had had a very high insulin level and the prosecution case was his wife had the opportunity to administer it and the skills to inject it.
Winzar, who has been released from prison, denied any wrongdoing and maintained he must have died of natural causes but was found guilty by a jury of murder.
A previous challenge to her conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in December 2002 and she applied to the CCRC in June 2005.
The CCRC previously said it considers the new evidence “gives rise to a real possibility” her conviction will be quashed.
Nicholas Brown, representing Winzar, said her case is there must be a “natural causes explanation” for Mr McCarthy’s very low blood sugar levels when he was admitted to hospital.
He added: “To rely on only one blood sample would, in my view, be unsafe.”
The case was adjourned to allow Winzar’s legal team to gather expert evidence as to the reliability of the particular medical test used to measure Mr McCarthy’s insulin levels.
The court heard that, if the evidence does not support Winzar’s case, she may have to withdraw her appeal.
No date was set for a further hearing.