Wednesday, 21 September 2011

BBC News - Teacher Andrew Lindo jailed for life for fiancee murder

Teacher Andrew Lindo jailed for life for fiancee murder

Andrew Lindo Lindo continued to live in the house with the couple's children after the killing

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A man who strangled, beat and stabbed his fiancee to death and hid her body in a suitcase has been told he will spend at least 22 years in prison.

Andrew Lindo, 29, murdered Marie Stewart - the mother of his two children - at their home in Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, in December.

His trial heard he had been living a double life, having several affairs.

Jailing him for life, a judge said Lindo had shown an "extraordinary and chilling lack of remorse".

Hours after killing Miss Stewart, Lindo took the couple's young children to collect his latest lover, Angela Rylance.

She spent the night with Lindo in the bedroom where the attack on Miss Stewart took place, unaware that her body was hidden in the garage two floors below.

Mr Justice Andrew Smith, sitting at Bradford Crown Court, said the parole board would have to take into account Lindo's "extraordinary cunning and facility for deceit" before he was considered for release.

Marie Stewart Miss Stewart's body was found by police in the garage

The judge said Lindo's attack on Miss Stewart was "cruel and sustained".

He said the motive for the killing remained unclear, but it appeared Lindo's double life had finally caught up with him.

For seven weeks Lindo convinced his fiancee's family and friends she was still alive, posting messages through her Facebook profile and using her mobile phone to tell them she had left him and moved abroad.

But when they became suspicious, the police were called and officers found her body in the garage.

Lindo admitted killing his 30-year-old partner but he denied murder.

He claimed he lost control following a row with Miss Stewart, during which he accused her of mistreating their daughter.

A jury took less than an hour to reject his claim on Tuesday.

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