Geoffrey Payne talks for the first time about the night his wife was killed.The judge thought it was he who killed his wife.Now he wrote to a magazine from the prison about what happened on the night of 13 October 1999.
I had to stay late at the hospital that night to do an operation.I finally left at about 11 p.m.
I drove home slowly because the weather was terrible— the wind was blowing and it was raining heavily.I was turning into our road when a man suddenly ran in front of my car.I almost hit him but I stopped just in time.I was frightened and the man looked frightened too.I got out of the car but he ran away before I could ask if he was all right.It was very strange.
When I got home,the lights were on but it was very quiet.I called to my wife but there was no answer.Then I remembered that she was out at a concert.
I was still very upset about what happened on the road,so I made myself a drink.Then I went upstairs to have a bath.I saw that the window in the bedroom was open.This was strange because my wife always locked the doors and windows before she went out.She was afraid of burglars .When I went to close it,I found Ellen.She was lying on the floor.There was blood everywhere.I rushed over and felt for her pulse but she was dead.I sat on the floor beside her body and was too frightened to do anything.
The next thing I knew,the sky was getting light.I can’t remember a thing about that night.In the morning I phoned the police.They arrived about half an hour after I phoned them.But it seemed like hours.During that time I tried hard to remember anything I could about the night before.I couldn’t stop thinking about the man in the road.What was he doing at that time of night in our quiet neighbourhood?Why did he look so frightened?Why did he run away?