David Barraclough, 46, has been jailed for life for the murder of his wife Carolann Barraclough, 37, whose body he hid in a chest freezer at their home in Horbury, Wakefield. Leeds Crown Court heard how he used a claw hammer to kill her as she lay in bed on February 20 this year.
Web of lies after the killing
After hiding her body, Barraclough created a 'web of lies and deceit' to convince her family and friends she was alive and recovering from an illness in hospital. He used her phone to message her children, including one to her eldest daughter saying: 'I'm starting to feel a bit better, I'll be home soon.'
During that time, he contacted escorts, trawled dating apps and emptied their joint bank account, which had just 16p left in it by the time the murder was discovered. Barraclough handed himself in to police on March 5, painting himself as a victim of domestic abuse and saying he was 'heartbroken' at having killed her in self-defence.
Court hears of controlling behaviour
The court heard he had been controlling and abusive towards his wife for several years. The morning before she was killed, Carolann was described by one of her children as looking 'miserable and terrified – petrified about what was going to happen'.
Barraclough pleaded guilty to murder on what was supposed to be the first day of his trial last week, but refused to go back to court and face justice in front of Carolann's family who packed out the public gallery. Judge Andrew Stubbs KC said he wanted to use new powers to bring defendants to court by force or impose an extra two years to their sentence for refusing – but said they are not in force yet.
Family's devastation
In a statement read to the court, Carolann's sister, Sarah Rowley, described on behalf of the whole family how they were 'completely shattered by the senseless and violent way Caz was taken from us'. She said her children were the 'centre of her world' and added: 'The void of her absence is agonisingly loud.'
Ms Rowley said her sister was the 'bright light of our family' and 'someone who was always smiling and her joy was infections'. She said: 'She had a massive heart – always ready to help others.'
Judge's sentencing remarks
Judge Stubbs said it was 'merciful' that Carolann's children did not witness the attack or find their mother in the freezer in the utility room. He said the defendant used a claw hammer to inflict four lacerations with the head-end of the weapon and a large injury with the claw. The judge said: 'She could only have survived a short time while under attack.'
Addressing Barraclough despite the empty dock, he said: 'Thereafter, your behaviour displayed a callous disregard for your wife, her children, your children and her friends.' The judge described how Carolann was placed in the freezer wrapped in a duvet, with her hands and ankles bound with tape and a bin liner over her head.
Judge Stubbs set out the 'web of lies and deceit' the defendant then spun, even allowing Carolann's eldest child to believe she was communicating with her. On March 2 the defendant sent her a message from her mother's phone saying: 'I'm starting to feel a bit better I'll be home soon' and then 'love you have a good day' on March 4. The child replied: 'Hi mum, how are you doing today,' with two smiling emojis.
The judge said: 'In the same period after the killing and before you handed yourself in to the police as your wife lay dead and undiscovered in the freezer, contrary to your subsequent claims to be heartbroken, you joined dating apps, contacted escorts and exchanged explicit messages with another woman. You used your wife's bank card for your joint account to withdraw large amounts of money to support the life you were living.'
The judge said that on the day he walked into the police station there was 16p left in the couple's accounts. He said he rejected claims made by Barraclough's lawyers that he was remorseful, given the 'scale and scope of your lies'. Judge Stubbs said there was a 'significant amount of planning' by Barraclough.
Prosecution and police response
Jill May, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire & Humberside, said: 'David Barraclough tried to paint himself as a victim of domestic abuse who had no choice but to kill his wife and was heartbroken by what had happened. The evidence told a very different story. After brutally murdering Carolann, Barraclough hid her body in the home she shared with her children and lied repeatedly to her friends and family as he spun a calculated web of lies, pretending she was alive and recovering from illness in hospital. His actions in the weeks after her death, including downloading dating apps and taking out large sums of money from their joint account, were blatantly not those of a man in mourning. Our thoughts remain with Carolann's children, family and friends for all they have had to suffer.'
Detective Inspector Tom Hilyer of West Yorkshire Police said: 'David Barraclough is a very manipulative and calculating individual who not only brutally killed his wife, but then went to extreme lengths to fabricate a defence that suggested he wasn't responsible for what he had done. I'm pleased that we were able to disprove his self-serving claims and hope this brings some comfort and closure to Carolann's family and loved ones who I know have been left devastated by her murder.'
