Wife killer jailed for life

A man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering his wife of just five months when she confronted him about a string of affairs.
Michael Roberts, who dumped his wife’s body in the garage of their home in Partington Square near Daresbury, Warrington, later claimed he had accidentally strangled 25-year-old Vicky during a sex game.
The 26-year-old Phones4U manager, who was having affairs with two other women, went on the run shortly after her death in November last year, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
He has been sentenced to a minimum of 17 years after the jury took just four hours to convict him of murder.
During the three-week trial Roberts (pictured right) had tried to claim that he accidentally strangled her with her own dressing gown cord because she had told him to pull “tighter” during a sex game.
After strangling her, he wrapped her body in sheets, cardboard and duct tape and hid it in the garage by their flat in Partington Square.
He then sent various text messages from her phone to her friends to try and cover his tracks.
He later lied to family, friends and colleagues that Mrs Roberts, an account director for Banner Chemicals, had left him for another man.
But after she had been missing for a few days, her father contacted the police concerned about his daughter’s welfare.
Then when police searched the couple’s home and discovered Mrs Roberts’ body in the garage Roberts fled on foot.
He was finally arrested three days later in Wrexham, North Wales.
Roberts told the court that while he was on the run he had decided to kill himself in a Chester hotel room, shoving two socks in his mouth and covering his face with tape but could not go through with it.
Leading the investigation, Detective Inspector Jo Miller said after the hearing; “Our deep sympathy lies with the family of Vicky Roberts. She was loved by all that knew her, was described as a friendly, caring and loving person who loved her family dearly. Her only fault was to love her husband deeply, and to try to make their marriage work. This cost Vicky her life.
“Michael Roberts was unable to own up to his infidelity and challenges to his unreasonable behaviour. Rather than accept his failings he murdered his wife. He is a devious individual who consistently told lies to Vicky, and to friends, family, colleagues, and even his lovers. He had gone to elaborate lengths to make it appear as if Vicky had in fact left him, sending texts from her mobile home, disposing of her personal belongings and changing the interior of their home in preparation for his lover to visit.
“Her family and friends have had to endured a long investigation and public trial where they have had to listened to both details of Vicky’s personal life and details of the sexual exploits of Michael Roberts. We hope that today’s’ conviction will start to bring them some degree of closure and helps them begin to come to terms with what has been a devastating period of their life and a tragic, heartbreaking loss.”