Man jailed for brutally beating and killing estranged wife for 'disrespecting' him; judge slams victim blaming

A Manchester man who brutally beat and stabbed his estranged wife to death earlier this year has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years.

Aubrey Pule Padi hid at his wife Tamara Padi's home and "lay in wait" for her to return in a "planned and carefully executed attack" carried out while one of their two young children slept in the next room. The convict even set an alarm on his phone so he could take a nap and ensure that his wife was asleep before he attacked her on that fateful night on July 7.

Tamara, who worked as a carer and was out on a late-night care visit on that day, returned to her home in Stalybridge near Manchester at 1:30 AM with a colleague and they both went to sleep. Her estranged husband, who had "concealed himself" in her home after letting himself in, came armed with knives and a hammer, and carried gloves and a length of cord, reports Mail Online.

After his alarm for his nap went off at 3:30 am, he "set about" his wife with a metal "pull up exercise bar." He then left the bedroom believing her dead, but shortly returned apparently after hearing some noise from her, and stabbed her eight times with one of the two kitchen knives he had brought with him. Their daughter "mercifully" slept through the attack. Meanwhile, Tamara's colleague brought her to the hospital after finding her seriously injured, but the 43-year-old could not survive.

Aubrey and Tamara had separated early this year after 14 years of marriage and "several years together" before that. However, they remained in regular contact after the split and launched a business together called Green Leaf Health and Social Care Ltd, a care provision company for adults.

On July 6, the day before the murder, the convict had punched Tamara in the face when she wouldn't let him use her mobile phone in her car, having already caught him going through voicemails on her phone two weeks ago. In voicemail messages intercepted by police, she had described his conduct towards her as "creepy" and that he was "driving her away."

After punching her, Aubrey sent Tamara "apologetic and threatening" texts in the night which ended with "This is the last time you have disrespected me." He killed her the next day, fled the spot, but then rang 999 and confessed his crime to an ambulance control centre call operator.

The 46-year-old told the operator that he is "sorry" for what he has done and is going to kill himself, but also said that the victim "deserved" it. He later informed police of his location and had been drinking whiskey and had taken paracetamol when he was arrested.

Aubrey pleaded guilty to one count of murder in an appearance at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, and sobbed and looked away from his children as judge Elizabeth Nicholls passed the sentence. While announcing his prison term, the judge slammed him for blaming the victim even when he was confessing his crime to the 999 operator.

"Your conversation is full of self-pity, justification for your conduct. Like so much violence against women, you tried to place the blame upon the victim, suggesting that she had wronged you and that you were driven to this conduct. Even going so far as to say she 'deserved it,'" she said.

"And what type of parental love is it that lies alongside your child while waiting to murder her mother? There are no excuses and no fault lies with the victim, Tamara. This offence is entirely your responsibility. No woman should have to endure at the hands of a man what Tamara did in her final hours," the judge added.