John Chapman repeatedly hit 81-year-old wife with wooden vase while she slept in their Clacton home

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A 72-year-old man who battered his wife to death with a wooden vase made by one of her sons has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years.



John Chapman had earlier admitted murdering his 81-year-old wife, Jean, at their home in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, and was sentenced at Chelmsford crown court on Friday.

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, said Chapman had launched a “powerful, sustained and determined attack” as his wife lay asleep in bed six days after her 81st birthday.

He said the attack had happened at around 4am on 12 June and Chapman had made a 999 call at 6.11am. “In calm and measured tones, he began by giving his name to the operator then said: ‘I’ve just killed my wife,’” Jackson said.

“Asked what had happened, he said basically: ‘There have been problems. I’ve been trying to kill myself but I couldn’t do it as I was thinking about what she would do when I’m gone.’”

Chapman said in the call that he had “cracked her on the head with a wooden vase” then strangled her at their flat. Police attended and found Jean Chapman’s body wedged between their double bed and a wardrobe.

Jackson said Chapman had tried to throw himself from a balcony “but was unable to do so”.

Jean Chapman died of serious head injuries.

“That vase had been a gift years before,” Jackson said. “It was made by one of her sons when he was a schoolboy. It’s the prosecution case that when his wife was in bed and probably asleep, this defendant hit her probably 10 times with the wooden vase.”

He said the couple had been married for 35 years and had no children together, but Jean Chapman had two sons from a previous marriage and was a grandmother.

“She was fit and active and enjoyed life and was quite able to cope and look after herself.”



He said a birthday card from Chapman to his wife found in the flat had said: “All my love, thank you for your understanding.”

“What he meant by thanking her for her understanding, only he knows.”

Bruce Bowers, one of Jean Chapman’s sons, said in a victim impact statement that the family was in shock and disbelief. “If he had wanted to end his life, he should have just got on with it.”

Judge Charles Gratwicke, sentencing, said it was a “merciless, sustained attack on a defenceless woman who stood no chance as she slept” and that there was no suggestion she had shown her husband “anything other than love and affection”.

He said Chapman murdered his wife in a “brutal and savage way” and it was “hard to contemplate how anyone could act so selfishly”.

Craig Rush, mitigating, said Chapman had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, had a depressive illness and had sent his apologies to his wife’s sons.

Chapman showed no reaction to the sentence.