Pontypool murder: Maggs jailed for 20 years for stabbing wife

A retired accountant who murdered his wife while she lay in bed has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 20 years in prison.

David Maggs, 71, stabbed Linda Maggs, 74, at least 15 times in the neck, chest and hands.

In sentencing him on Thursday, Judge Michael Fitton QC called Maggs “selfish, bitter and unpleasant”.

Maggs admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, but was also found guilty of murder.

At Cardiff Crown Court, Judge Fitton said: “You were bitter and angry at life and you brought out that inner anger and resentment in Linda on the day you killed her.

“He died of pain and terror. You left the room without checking if she was alive or dead.

“You came to resent her in a wide variety of ways.”

The court heard that Maggs resented that his wife had a social life, friends and a loving family.

Judge Fitton said: “It bothered him that he had the courage to defend himself and it bothered him that he took his solicitor’s advice and refused to leave the house, remaining to protect his interest in the marital home.”

In a victim impact statement, Ms Maggs’ son, Andrew Minahan, said the killing had changed their lives, saying the family was left “sick”.

He said the defendant’s actions should “haunt him for the rest of his life” and that he missed his mother “desperately”.

He said the name on her headstone was Linda Minahan, not Linda Maggs, adding: “Our mother was the best mother, grandmother and friend you could wish for. Now she’s gone.”

“She was a huge part of our lives, she was always there for us.

“You took our mother and our children’s nanny. They adored her, she adored them.”

Linda, who was described in a family tribute as “beautiful inside and out,” was killed on Saturday, February 6, 2021.

The trial heard about the circumstances leading up to the brutal attack on February 6, 2021, which was so forceful that two of his ribs were broken.

In the summer of 2020, Linda told David that she wanted a divorce. Her marriage had been unhappy for some years.

Linda was advised not to leave the family home, and therefore behind neat net curtains in Landsdowne, Sebastopol, in Pontypool, a husband and wife lived separate lives.

He spoke with a lawyer and began divorce proceedings. The murder trial heard that she was advised not to leave the house. David Maggs also refused to move.

What was once a home filled with happy memories of family Christmas celebrations and summer gatherings in their garden was now a battlefield.

Maggs converted the living room into a bedroom, with a lock on the door. Mrs. Maggs had rooms upstairs. She had also bought locks for her own door, but she had not arranged to have them installed.

The couple shared a bathroom and kitchen. Mrs. Maggs told her friends that she would sit on the stairs outside the bathroom door while she showered. She said that she thought her husband was harassing her.

A decree nisi was due to be granted in March 2021. Lawyers had appointed a financial investigator to examine the couple’s finances before a divorce could finally be granted.

It probably meant the house would be sold. Ms. Maggs told Ella Kerry’s daughter that she was concerned about David’s reaction when he was told about the investigator.

The night before his death he spoke with his daughter.

The court heard that Kerry later told police that her mother “thought it would start when she got the letter. That was the last time we spoke.”

Cardiff Crown Court was told the couple’s relationship had been falling apart for years. After being forced to surrender his driver’s license in 2009 due to his epilepsy, Maggs became increasingly reclusive.

Linda loved to dance, dance, rock and roll and had been a member of a dance group called Pat’s Popsicles.

When Maggs retired to the house, he resented Linda’s active social life, frequently asking her where she was going and with whom. When he went with her to club dances in Cwmbran and Newport, he stood outside her smoking her.

He liked spending time with his granddaughter.

They loved going clothes shopping together. Linda took care of her appearance and looked much younger than her 74 years. Her family, her house and her garden meant the world to her.

The couple first met in 1977, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that they became a couple.

Mrs. Maggs’ first marriage had broken down and she was single-handedly raising her son Andrew and daughter Kerry. She sometimes worked three jobs to make ends meet and support her children.

The couple married in August 2002. But even in the early days, money was an issue.

The court heard that Kerry told detectives that Maggs wanted Linda to sign a prenuptial agreement. She refused, saying that she believed everything should be shared.

After they got married, they continued to have separate bank accounts. Kerry remembers that her mother always paid for her own food and drinks if the couple went out to eat. “I thought it was weird,” she said.

In the early years of the marriage life was good. The couple traveled and visited destinations such as Spain, the United States and Australia.

But over the years, the atmosphere in the house became more and more tense. Maggs grew increasingly angry. There were frequent fights over money.

Linda’s decision to divorce him forced the couple to split the house in two. She would live upstairs, he downstairs.

She refused to cook and clean for him any longer.

The court heard that he changed his will explaining that he had been “bitten” by his two previous ex-wives and that he was not prepared to give another wife any of his money.

His mood turned gloomy. The pandemic meant that she spoke to her GP over the phone. She was prescribed antidepressants and a short course of sleeping pills.

His sister said he wasn’t taking good care of himself. She visited him most days, to bring him food and to see how he was doing.

It wasn’t right. He had emphysema and the year before she had survived two heart attacks.

His days were spent sitting behind the locked door of the living room, smoking, playing cards, and watching movies.

The lockdowns meant that Ms Maggs was also limited in where she could go and who she could see, spending much of her time alone upstairs in her bedroom.

In the months before her death, the jury was told that Maggs told three people that she wanted to kill Linda.

In September 2020 a local real estate agent came to appraise the house. Chris Davies told detectives that he remembered David Maggs “smoking heavily and shaking visibly.” Maggs told him that he would rather hurt his wife than lose what she had.

Mr Davies recalled seeing Mrs Maggs while looking around the house, describing her as “very shy”.

At only 4 ft 11 in (150 cm), she was petite. But Maggs would later tell police that she took two kitchen knives upstairs the day he killed her for “protection.”

He told detectives that although Mrs Maggs was petite, she was, in his words, “very bolshy”.

The second person she told was housing support worker Julie Lewis. When it became clear that the house might have to be sold as part of the divorce settlement, he was referred to Bron Afon Community Housing.

Ms. Lewis encouraged him to look at options, including rent and sheltered accommodation.

Not once during police interviews did Maggs express remorse or regret for what he had done.

Prosecutor Mike Jones QC told the jury: “From the first call to 999, the constant emotion this defendant displays is animosity and anger towards Linda, and then self-pity.”

In court, Maggs admitted to involuntary manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Her lawyer, Sarah Jones QC, said her client’s depression and poor health would have affected her judgement.

Carried out of court each day chained to a wheelchair and struggling to get into a prison van, it seemed hard to reconcile this sick, frail figure with the man who stabbed his wife so hard it broke her bones.

After just under nine hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of Linda’s murder. It was a unanimous decision.