Murderer David Pomphret was caught on CCTV in Asda with his wife before he bludgeoned her to death with a crowbar.
The 51-year-old killed his wife Ann Marie in a sustained attack at the stables the family owned in Warrington.
Ann Marie, known as Marie to friends, had been suffering from cancer and mental health problems in the months leading up to her death.
The couple, who had been married for 22 years, had an 18 year-old daughter who lived with them at their home in Cheshire.
On Friday, November 2, last year, the husband and wife went to Asda together, before heading to their stables on Alder Lane in Warrington.
Pomphret, a computer expert at Barclays bank, claimed he had no recollection of the events that followed.
After a blazing row, Pomphret, who was previously described as 'the calmest man on the planet' bludgeoned her to death.
Doctors anticipated that Ann Marie suffered at least 30 blows to the head, inflicted with a crowbar Pomphret had picked up to use for his DIY work.
He then went to great lengths to cover his tracks, discarding the crowbar in the pond nearby, disposing of his bloodstained clothing and footwear, swapping his and his wife’s cars around and texting her phone a number of times showing apparent concern as to where she was.
That evening, after coming up with a story for his whereabouts that day, he called police to the stables.
Inside, officers found Ann Marie's body. An investigation into the violent death was launched.
Pomphret was arrested in the early hours of November 3 and, in a series of interviews with detectives from the force’s Major Investigation Team, he maintained his innocence.
What followed, was described as 'one of the biggest' investigations carried out by Cheshire Police in recent years.
CCTV in a two-kilometre radius was checked frame by frame and more than 300 addresses were visited by officers carrying out house-to-house enquiries.
A total of 1,300 people and 480 vehicles were logged and checked, while every crime scene officer and manager were tasked with managing a number of scenes and carrying out painstaking forensic examinations.
Search officers were enlisted to search the home and nearby land along with the stables for more than a month.
The regional Underwater Search Team spent 24 days searching water courses while 200 tonnes of slurry was removed from a pond at the stables and searched for evidence.
A crowbar was recovered from the pond, which police say was the weapon Pomphret used to attack his wife with.
Nearly a year after her brutal murder, at Liverpool Crown Court, Pomphret was convicted by a jury of his wife's murder.
Detective Inspector Adam Waller, who was in charge of the investigation, said: “This case was truly shocking and one of the biggest investigations the Constabulary has seen in recent years.
"The injuries sustained by Ann Marie were horrific and all those involved in this investigation were determined to find her killer and ensure they were brought to justice for their actions.
“The diligence and determination of every single officer and member of staff who worked on this case paid off and the evidence they tirelessly gathered was so overwhelming that when Pomphret was presented with this after he was charged he couldn't maintain the lie any longer and he was left with no choice but to plead guilty to killing his wife.
"However, this was after 15 police interviews had taken place and having spent five months on bail maintaining his innocence.
“What Pomphret did that day ripped a family apart and he will now have to face the consequences of that behind bars.
"My thoughts go out to Ann Marie’s family who have had to wait until this trial took place and then have the upsetting details laid bare in the media coverage.
“I hope that, whilst it won’t bring Ann Marie back, seeing justice being done will help them in some way.
“I’d like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who spent many hours, weeks and months of their time helping us to get to the truth, not only for Ann Marie’s family’s, but all those who knew and loved her and for the residents of Winwick, Burtonwood and the wider community.
