Every third day, in our #EveryThreeDays campaign, I write about a woman killed by a man. Previously in this campaign, which started on the 2nd of May 2021, I have remembered 96 women, the last being India Chipchase, who lived in Northampton.
Today we remember Guida Rufino, who her partner killed.
The Yorkshire Evening Post reported:
A mother-of-one, who was described as a ‘little firecracker’ pleaded for her life before she was killed by her estranged partner – as her friend listened helplessly while tied to a chair in an adjoining room, an inquest heard.
Anthony Roberts murdered Guida Rufino, the mother of his young daughter, on January 31, just over 24 hours after she had told him she wanted to end their relationship for good. During the attack, the 37-year-old teaching assistant even texted his own family and said Ms Rufino, 38, had attacked him and that she had been taken away by police. But in reality, Mr Roberts was punching, kicking and beating his former partner and tying both her and her work colleague, Johanna Coleman, to chairs.
A PC who found Ms Rufino told the inquest that she had “a severe deep cut to her neck.”
Anthony then killed himself by cutting along a previously drawn line on his right leg, severing a major artery. As the scene of “absolute horror” was unfolding, Ms Coleman was tied up in an adjoining room after being bound by Roberts and moved from the living room shortly after he became violent.
Describing herself as “terrified”, a statement by Ms Coleman said she could hear her friend pleading for her life, saying: “Tony stop it, don’t do it” and “Tony, don’t”. Ms Rufino was a director of a Leeds-based occupational health company. Her business partner, Dr Jacqueline Senior, led tributes after the tragedy, describing her as a “devoted” mother.
The couple’s daughter, believed to be two years old, was being looked after by relatives after the attack.
Guida Rufino
#EveryThreeDays
