Man who murdered ex-wife when she refused £100 to have sex 'one last time' is jailed for life
Martin Cavanagh, 35, throttled 31-year-old Sophie Cavanagh at his Bromley flat in May then left a message on a board saying "she deserved it".
The body of the mother-of-two was found naked in bed the next day and Cavanagh turned himself in to police days later.
Cavanagh was found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey in a murder trial that heard he was "controlling, jealous and possessive", with a short fuse.
Sophie's mother and half-sister nodded as the judge told him he'd serve at least 16 years before he can be considered for parole.
Judge Michael Grieve QC said he "inflicted a life sentence of suffering" on Sophie's family and children.
He said: "You caused the wholly unnecessary tragic death of 31-year-old Sophie, much loved by her family and friends, who had most of her life before her."
Cavanagh "deprived" her children of her "love and care forever", he said.
The judge added: "You could not let go of Sophie emotionally and kept a close eye on other relationships she might be forming, on occasions interfering in order to frustrate them.
"In the week before you killed her you got desperate to have her and as it turned out to ensure that no one else could."
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Sophie's half-sister Dawn Larkin said she was a "beautiful, loving person who would do no one any harm."
Ms Larkin said: "Since losing my daughter Sophie, my whole life has changed, it's like there is a big, black hole – I can no longer phone her or see her, which I miss desperately.
"Her sister Lucy has not only lost a sister, she has lost her best friend.
"Sophie's children have lost the love of their mum and it's so hard and heartbreaking that all we have is photos, her ashes and our memories when in fact we should have her here with us.
"Our lives will never be the same again and nothing will fill the void."
Ms Larkin also blasted Cavanagh's decision to plead not guilty to the murder, adding: "I sat through the trial and listened to the horrific details of how she was murdered.
"All of this could have been spared us if he had admitted what he had done, but he chose to keep up the charade until the end."
Jailing Cavanagh for life, Judge Michael Grieve QC said he "inflicted a life sentence of suffering" on Sophie's family and children.
He said: "You caused the wholly unnecessary tragic death of 31-year-old Sophie, much loved by her family and friends, who had most of her life before her."
Jurors in the trial were told Cavanagh, of Bromley, south London, had offered her money for sex days before the murder.
He sent her a text which said: "I want to have you one last final time."
The pair were married since September 2011 but had lived separately for the previous two years and had a "volatile and fractious relationship".
Sophie was filing for a divorce at the time of the killing.
They had visited Wingham Wildlife Park, in Kent, on the day of the murder, before visiting a pub with friends, who described the pair as in "good spirits".
But Cavanagh killed Sophie that night, before her body was found at his flat with her feet poking from beneath a quilt on his makeshift bed.
Cavanagh then visited his mother's house at 7pm the following day but was confronted by his sister-in-law.
He said, 'you know, don't you?', then when she said yes, he claimed there was an argument but he "didn't know" what happened.
He told her "his life was over", then left before police launched a manhunt.
After a police appeal he handed himself in at Bromley police station on Thursday, May 24.
Earlier that morning, family members had seen him in his mother's shed, where he had said: "I'm not running, are the police here?"
He told them: "I want you to take me to the police station, I didn't do it."
Messages from Sophie's phone revealed a conversation in which he accused her of messaging another man, despite her insisting she was not.
One said: "NO MORE Message from me tonight. Just wish u would admit Ur talking to a fella."
Source: Read Full Article