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Pilot acquitted of murdering wife
2011-05-24 12:46:25
24 May 2011 Last updated at 19:48 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print British Airways pilot cleared of murdering wife Joanna Brown in Ascot Continue reading the main story
Mrs Brown ran a four-star guesthouse in Ascot
Killer's phone call to police Continue reading the main story Related Stories How pilot turned into a killer Killer's phone call to police BA pilot 'considered plane crash'A pilot who battered his estranged wife to death with a claw hammer and buried her body has been cleared of murder.
The body of wealthy Ascot guesthouse owner Joanna Brown, 46, originally from the Isle of Man, was found on the Queen's Windsor Estate in Berkshire.
British Airways captain Robert Brown, 47, was convicted of obstructing a coroner from holding an inquest.
Brown had already admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. He was jailed for 26 years.
The jury, at Reading Crown Court, returned its verdicts after nearly 15 hours of deliberation.
Mrs Brown's mother Diana Parkes and brother James Simpson said in a statement: "Today, there has been a gross miscarriage of justice.
Pre-nuptial agreement"However, I would like to thank the judge for recognising the truth of what actually happened. He got away with murder in name only.
"Robert Brown is an intelligent man and has had five months on remand to contrive a cunning plan to make out he was suffering from diminished responsibility, which has manipulated the evidence and subsequent verdict."
Sentencing Brown, Judge Mr Justice Cooke told him: "You intended to kill, you intended to conceal the body and to hide the evidence of the killing."
During the eight-day trial the court heard Brown had been consumed by anger during the course of his marriage, and a pre-nuptial agreement signed in 1999 had caused him "continuing resentment".
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