A "much loved" mum is the first of three people murdered in the same week to get justice.
Families across Merseyside were torn apart in May when two women and one man were found dead in their homes in separate incidents. Yesterday (Friday, October 28) saw the first of those victims get justice as Mark Wheeler, 51, was sentenced for murdering his wife, Karen Wheeler, 62, in their Birkenhead flat.
His brutal attack, which saw Ms Wheeler being hit over the head with a lamp as she slept, occurred after Wheeler kept his money troubles secret. When threatened with bailiffs he murdered the "much-loved mother".
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Liverpool Crown Court heard the couple began their relationship in 2007 before marrying seven years later. They lived in a 13th-storey unit in an apartment block on Vittoria Close and there had been "no history of domestic violence" - although Ms Wheeler reported her husband "had begun to act in an insecure and needy way" in the months before her death.
On the morning of May 11 this year, the 62-year-old returned home from a night shift - having been employed as a carer for assisted living residents by a housing association. She dozed off on a settee in the living room before her 52-year-old spouse began his attack as she slept.
She was knocked unconscious but came around again at one stage and "asked what he was doing". The shop worker told her he "had to" kill her and was going to take his own life, and began hitting her again with the object.
Wheeler then left the room, but upon returning believed she had moved. As a result, he took a knife and began stabbing her "to make sure she was dead" before drinking whisky and attempting to take an overdose.
His suicide bid was unsuccessful, and the following morning he left the house to buy beer. Ms Wheeler's son David Bradley began to have growing concerns over his mum.
Messages he sent remained unread, and he could not get in touch with Mark Wheeler. Mr Bradley returned to the flat at 6pm on May 12, but when he failed to get an answer called Merseyside Police.
When officers attended the scene and arrested him, Wheeler said "he didn’t need a solicitor as he had killed his wife". He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 15 years and 10 months and told to pay a victim surcharge.
A further two murders rocked Merseyside the in the same week as Ms Wheeler's death, including Lorraine Cullen, a 43-year-old mum from Huyton and 49-year-old Derek Burns from Tuebrook.
Lorraine was found dead in her home on Radway Road, Huyton, after being stabbed to death on Wednesday, May 11. A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder a short time later on York Road, just a short drive away.
He was detained under the Mental Health Act and police are not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.
Derek Burns was found dead inside an address on Newsham Drive in Tuebrook after police were called to reports of a disturbance shortly before 7pm on May 15 this year. A post-mortem investigation later revealed the 49-year-old had died as a result of a stab wound to the chest.
Jeffrey Kelly, of Newsham Drive, has already appeared before Liverpool Crown Court charged with his murder and pleaded not guilty to this count while appearing via video link to HMP Altcourse.
He will now face a trial back before the same court on November 7, which is scheduled to last around a week.
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