Every third day, in our #EveryThreeDays campaign, I write about a woman killed by a man. Previously this month, we have remembered Miriam Nyazema, Denisa Silmen, Jan Bennett, Simonne Kerr, and mother of two, 36-year-old Laura Holden.
Today we remember Jane Wiggett, aged 57, whose body was found exactly eight years ago today, after being killed by her ex-husband Daniel Spencer.
Previously they had been married for thirty years but divorced in 2005. During the marriage, Jane had reported Spencer to the police for grabbing her by the throat. Jane was actually killed on the 24th of July 2013, but she was not reported missing until the 15th of August 2013 – her body was found in her bed the next day.
Daniel Spencer denied killing Jane but was convicted partly because traces of his blood were found under Jane’s fingernails. The Daily Mail reported this:
Prosecuting, Richard Smith QC, had previously told the jury Spencer was a ‘jealous’ and violent man, who repeatedly lied to cover up what he had done.
‘On Wednesday, July 24 last year, this defendant visited his then ex-wife in her flat in Cheltenham,’ Mr Smith said. ‘Something happened to anger him and upset him. There was something of a struggle. Jane Wiggett resisted, it seems, his attack upon her. But the defendant took her by the throat and this time it culminated in him taking her life. ‘
He put and left Jane’s body lying in her own bed, positioned on her back. Her face was covered with a pillow, her quilt was then carefully put over her as if to hide the fact that she was dead inside.’
Ms Wiggett, who weighed just seven-and-a-half stone, was last seen on the evening of July 24, after which her phones and credit cards were not used.
Spencer also immediately ceased all phone contact with his ex-wife after that date but told relatives and police she had gone to Cornwall for a break.
Friends and family decided to visit Ms Wiggett on July 26 and gained access to her flat.
‘They didn’t notice Jane’s body lying under the quilt and blanket, covered over with pillows, in her bed,’ Mr Smith told the jury.
Police were called at 7.48pm on August 15 and attended her home at 3am the following morning.
An officer pulled back the duvet of the bed and spotted Ms Wiggett’s foot.
A post-mortem examination found Ms Wiggett had been hit before her death, which was caused by strangulation.
Daniel Spencer, 59, will have to serve at least 16 years behind bars – the jury took just three hours to convict him.
Jane Wiggett
#EveryThreeDays
Authored by Steph @PlaceSteph
