Murderer's mother "put up" man he allegedly hired to kill ex-wife (From Your Local Guardian)

Murderer's mother "put up" man he allegedly hired to kill ex-wife

4:00pm Wednesday 14th July 2010 in Epsom By Court Reporter

A pensioner told a court how she “put up” the man her son had allegedly hired to kill his wife.

Graham Birchwood, Sharon Birchwood’s husband, told mother Gladys his friend she knew only as “Paul” would be staying for a few days at their home.

Mrs Birchwood met “Paul” from the station and provided him with three meals a day.

He told her he was a scuba diving instructor but Paul Cryne, 62, was in fact living off hand-outs and had been hired by Birchwood to strangle his wife Sharon, the jury at the Old Bailey heard.

Birchwood, 56, is serving a life sentence but Cryne denies he was the hitman.

Sharon, 52, an ME sufferer, was found by paramedics in her bedroom, fully clothed at 1pm on Friday December 7, 2007.

She had been trussed up, bound and gagged with parcel tape and electrical wire. Her ankles had been tied and there was tape around her neck and head, the court heard.

The electrical cord had been repeatedly wound around her head and a small metal handle had been used, it appeared, as a tourniquet.

The ligature around her neck and the gagging of her mouth had caused asphyxia, the jury heard.

Birchwood pretended to discover the body of his ex-wife three days after Cryne had killed her, the court heard.

Mrs Birchwood said her son had been living in Thailand but had come to stay with her in the summer of 2007. She told the court Birchwood suffered from diabetes and spent much of his time lying on the sofa at her home in Banstead, Surrey.

The pensioner walked to the train station to meet Cryne when he arrived.

She said: “I told Graham he was not to go to the station. He was suffering with his diabetes. I had never met or heard of him before Graham asked if he could stay for two or three nights. I knew him only as Paul.”

Mrs Birchwood said she was quite pleased to have him around the house because she was always worried about her son's health, but said she was not unhappy when Cryne left after staying three nights.

She said: “There was nothing objectionable about him. But its just nice to have the house to yourself. After he left on the Sunday I never heard from him again. There was no thank you letter or phone call. I must admit I thought that was rather strange. I believe he said to me a relative was picking him up from north London.”

Birchwood had plotted the murder of the 52-year-old so he could sell her £400,000 home, claim her £75,000 life insurance and start a new life abroad.

The plan was only foiled by “painstaking forensic work” which recovered traces of Cryne's DNA from Sharon's right hand, it is claimed.

She had also made her ex-husband the sole beneficiary of her will, which included the house and the life insurance policy.

Cryne flew in to Heathrow Airport from Bangkok on November 26, 2007, and travelled to Birchwood mother's home in after staying in a hotel in Victoria for two nights.

On December 2 Cryne left the address claiming he was going to stay with friends in the West Country.

Two days later he carried out the murder before returning to Thailand, it is claimed.

Cryne, of no fixed address but originally from Torquay, Devon, denies murder.

The trial continues.