A retired accountant who stabbed his wife more than 15 times with a kitchen knife while she was lying in bed has been jailed for life.
David Maggs, 71, admitted killing Linda Maggs, formerly Linda Minahan, at their home in Sebastopol, Pontypool, on February 6 2021.
However, he denied murder on grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming to have “blanked out” during the attack.
Following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court last month, Maggs was convicted of murder.
On Thursday, the son of Mrs Maggs, Andrew Minahan, said he hoped the defendant would be forever “tormented” by what he did.
The knock on the door on the 6th of February 2021 will haunt us for the rest of our lives as well as the horrific images of what you did to mum
Maggs’ defence counsel admitted her client “would likely die in prison”.
The couple had been together for 28 years and married for 18 years but at the time were going through a divorce and were living separate lives under the same roof, the court heard.
Witnesses called to give evidence described how Maggs had become obsessed with the idea of his estranged 74-year-old wife getting more money from the split.
A number of people, including an estate agent who went to value their property and a housing officer, said they heard him make threats to “stab” and “kill” his wife.
Michael Jones QC, prosecuting, said that Maggs had taken two red kitchen knives upstairs to his wife’s bedroom just after 9am and “made good that threat”.
Maggs claimed in his interviews with police that he had only entered Mrs Maggs’ bedroom to talk to her about the financial aspects of their divorce.
He admitted taking the two knives upstairs with him, saying he left one outside the bedroom door in case he needed it while he carried the other inside the room with him.
When he disliked the response he got from his wife Maggs became violent although he maintained throughout the trial he could not remember the attack.
A post-mortem examination found Mrs Maggs had been stabbed more than 15 times to the head, neck and torso.
Maggs then telephoned 999 telling the operator: “I just killed the wife.”
Police officers entered the home and during his arrest body camera footage captured Maggs saying: “I’ve just had enough. She tried to steal two houses from me, two houses.”
When taken to Ystrad Mynach police station, in Caerphilly, Maggs told detectives: “Thirty years I’ve been married to her and she doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut, so I topped her.”
Psychiatrists were brought in to testify including Dr Thomas Wynne who told the court he did not think Maggs was suffering from depression when he killed his wife.
Another psychiatrist, Dr Nuwan Galappathie, told the jury he believed “the degree of his impairment due to depression is significant”.
In an emotional statement delivered in court, Mr Minahan said: “I can’t believe that I’m stood here today. I shouldn’t be stood here today. Our hearts are broken, and our lives have been ripped apart.
“Because of you, we didn’t have a chance to say goodbye and tell her that we loved her for the last time.
“The knock on the door on the 6th of February 2021 will haunt us for the rest of our lives as well as the horrific images of what you did to mum,” he added.
“You claim during your interview that you can’t remember anything, but I don’t believe you for one minute.
“When you do choose to remember your savage attack on mum, we hope that the images will torment you like they torment us constantly.”
Mrs Maggs was described as “the best mum, nan and friend anyone could wish for” and the “most beautiful, kindest lady with a very big heart”.
Sarah Jones QC, defending, said: “Given the defendant’s age, and his state of health, whatever sentence Your Honour passes, this is a man who will die in prison.
“His last words, as I came up to mitigate for him, were he asked me to tell them, ‘how sorry I am. I truly am very sorry, I wish that it had never happened’.”
Sentencing Maggs to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years before he is eligible for parole, Judge Michael Fitton QC said he believed the defendant had killed his wife for “mixed motives” including resentment over the divorce.
He called the killing a “tragic, brutal and appallingly cruel event” and said Mrs Maggs would have died “not just in pain, but in terror”.
“As a man you resented her for still having a life. A social life, female friends, loving members of the family. In my view you resented her having the courage to stick up for herself and to start divorce proceedings against you,” he told Maggs.
“I’ve seen nothing to indicate that you’ve ever felt the slightest remorse at any time for anything you did to end her life.
“I see you as a profoundly self-centred, self-interested, bitter and unpleasant man. I don’t think you care about anybody other than yourself.”
