The Murder of Jane Wiggett

There just seems to be a never ending stream of jealous and possessive spouses who will only let their former partners go, when they have killed them.  It is incredible that there are so many people who cannot accept that you cannot make somebody like and love you.  You have to wipe your mouth and move on.  Daniel Spencer, 59, seems to have fallen into this category.  His marriage to Jane Wiggett ended after 30 years, but in July 2013, he went to see his now former wife, at her flat in Cheltenham.  What happened to make Spencer explode with fury is unknown, but what is known, are the steps he took to avoid suspicion and detection.  He strangled his 57 year old former wife and went to great pains to conceal her body inside her own bed, arranging it to make it so nothing looked amiss. 

    Now Spencer started informing family and friends that she had gone away on holiday, but after two days, people entered the flat but did not see anything unusual about the bed, showing how well Spencer had done his task.  He kept on telling Jane`s family that she had been contacting him and that everything was fine, but the family were suspicious of him and 3 weeks after she "went away" her family reported her missing.  The next day, Police searched her flat and found her body.  Immediately, the search was on for Spencer.  He was arrested days later at a hotel by Birmingham Airport.  Police believed he was ready to flee the country.

    Spencer went on trial at Bristol Crown Court in late July 2014, denying the charge of murder.  The post mortem revealed that Jane had been struck hard before being strangled.  She had fought hard against Spencer as traces of his blood were found under her fingernails.  The Jury convicted him of murder, and the Judge sentenced him to a minimum of 16 years jail.  He shouted at the Judge "Why don't you just put a bullet through my head?"  What sort of sentence did he expect?  Did he think he was going to get sympathy because he was nearly 60?  As for a bullet in the head, no doubt Jane`s family and friends would think that would be a very appropriate punishment for Spencer, but then again, this is not China or Russia.