Life sentence for wife-killer who went shopping with his mistress

A cheating husband who bludgeoned his wife to death before going Christmas shopping with one of his two mistresses has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murder.

Jonathan Palmer, who told detectives his wife had been killed by a burglar, was ordered to serve at least 18 years in prison after being unanimously convicted by a jury at Worcester Crown Court.

A three-week trial heard that Palmer, 52, “cornered” his wife Melinda at their home in Wadborough, south Worcestershire, on December 22 last year before repeatedly striking her head with a blunt instrument.

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The 52-year-old, who trembled and closed his eyes momentarily as the guilty verdict was delivered, claimed he had done nothing to harm his wife.

But forensic evidence found at the property proved his wife had died at his hands and that he had moved her body in an attempt to make the murder look like an accident and then the work of an intruder.

Passing sentence, Judge Robert Juckes QC described the attack on Mrs Palmer, who was 57, as savage and brutal.

“By the 22nd of December last year, such affection as you had for your wife had plainly evaporated. You were lying to the two deeply unfortunate women with whom you were conducting an affair – you had convinced both of them that you were a single man.”

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The judge added that Palmer – who launched the attack after being caught with a “secret phone” on which he contacted his mistresses – had pursued his own pleasure to the exclusion of concern for anybody else.

The trial heard Palmer even texted his mistresses with messages of affection on the day he murdered Mrs Palmer and drove to Nottinghamshire to take one of the women shopping.

Speaking outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Daryn Elton, of West Mercia Police’s Serious Crime Investigation team, said the murder inquiry was made all the more challenging by Palmer continually changing his story, including during the trial itself.

The officer told reporters: “His responses, both to police officers during the nine-month investigation and to questioning throughout the hearing, clearly demonstrated a huge capacity for lies and deceit at the expense of his deceased wife’s family, who have been present throughout.

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“But his callous disregard for the feelings of other people did not stop there. There are two other innocent women from the three years leading up to the death of Mrs Palmer who were beguiled and then betrayed by the man they both first came into contact with through a website.”

In a statement, Mrs Palmer’s family said: “We are pleased that justice has been served and the sentence reflects this awful crime.

“We would like to thank the police and everyone else involved in achieving this outcome.”