‘Quiet man’ and ‘accomplished liar' who bludgeoned wife to death with crowbar jailed for life
A "quiet man" who bludgeoned his wife to death with a crowbar in a "frenzied" attack has been jailed for life.
Computer expert David Pomphret, 51, battered wife Ann Marie, 49, with the weapon, striking her more than 30 times over the head at the stables where they kept horses near their home in Winwick, Cheshire, last November 2.
Pomphret protested his innocence but was "undone" after a speck of blood on his socks showed he was present at the crime scene.
He then changed his story, claiming a "special defence" of a temporary loss of control due to his "volatile" wife's behaviour.
The Barclays Bank IT worker was convicted of murder last Friday after a two-week trial at Liverpool Crown Court.
On Tuesday, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years before parole.
Passing sentence, Judge David Aubrey told Pomphret he had meticulously tried to cover his tracks and may well have got away with this murder but added: "You forgot to change your socks.
"It was a web of deceit and lies. In my judgment you are an accomplished liar.
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"She had defensive injuries to both her hands. She must have been pleading and begging for you to stop.
"You had had enough of her, saw the opportunity that presented itself that night to kill her and did so."
Pomphret dialled 999 saying he had found his wife of 22 years lying in a pool of blood, “very dead”.
He added: “There is brain and blood everywhere, and it looks like she has had her head beaten in.”
He denied planning the murder then tried to cover his tracks, telling the jury: “One of Marie’s favourite TV programmes was CSI and one of the things they always said is you can’t get rid of blood.”
Pomphret was given bail but was re-arrested four months later after police found “airborne blood” on his socks, which was dubbed a “huge mistake”.
He then had to change his story, the jury was told, and admitted manslaughter, tearfully telling Liverpool Crown Court he “killed the woman I loved”.
Instead he blamed his “volatile” wife’s behaviour, denying murder and claiming a special defence of a temporary loss of control.
