Husband of cliff-plunge wife 'capable of murder'.
Byline: Matt AdamsA man was last night facing a new police inquiry into allegations that he pushed his wife to her death over a 500ft cliff.
A coroner said Paul Ramsden, aged 38, was a calculating man capable of murdering his 32-yearold wife Paula.
He recorded an open verdict on her death on January 7, 2000 at Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex. After the hearing, detectives - who shortly after the mystery fall arrested Mr Ramsden on suspicion of murder but later released him without charge - said new evidence had arisen during the three-day inquest which could lead to the case being reconsidered by the Crown Prosecution Service.
Mr Ramsden, formerly of Ash Close, Crawley Down, West Sussex, said after the Eastbourne inquest: 'My life has been completely ruined by the tragic loss of my wife. I did not murder my wife, I loved her.'
East Sussex coroner Alan Craze said he could not record a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of mother-oftwo Paula, a childminder, but that everyone was united in regarding the death as suspicious.
He did not accept Mr Ramsden's claims that his wife had accidentally slipped over the cliff. The inquest heard how Mr Ramsden, who quit as a freemason following his wife's death, stood to receive pounds 225,000 from a life insurance policy, and how he had been having an affair with a 30-year-old work colleague.
Mr Ramsden claimed he and his wife had spent a happy day at Beachy Head, a notorious suicide spot, and they had been kissing and cuddling moments before she slipped over the edge as he turned his back.
On the first day of the inquest, her sister Mandy Cottle said she thought Paula knew about her husband's affair with Elizabeth Harrison, who worked for Shell at Gatwick Airport, where Mr Ramsden was an operations superintendent earning pounds 31,000 a year.
The inquest also heard how Mr Ramsden and his wife had between pounds 80,000 and pounds 90,000 in savings and how a mortgage of around pounds 80,000 on the couple's home would have been paid off if either died.
A life insurance policy taken out on Mrs Ramsden's life in 1994, which would have paid out pounds 104,000 on her death, was changed in October 1999. The new policy was to pay out pounds 225,744. The cash has yet to be awarded to Mr Ramsden. In reaching his decision yesterday, the coroner said Mr Ramsden was dishonest and calculating, and had a motive to murder Paula.
He questioned why he and Paula had visited Beachy Head three times in the days leading up to her death. On one occasion the couple visited the beauty spot at night and in the fog carrying only a torch.
'It is quite possible that, as a matter of theory, there had been discussions on that Sunday between Paul and Paula Ramsden about perhaps the state of their marriage, or about the state of his relationshipwith another woman or about perhaps the question of divorce.
'It is possible that this came to a crescendo on Beachy Head, as a result of which she jumped, knowing it would get her husband into trouble.
'I do not believe she committed suicide. Mr Ramsden said it was not suicide but he could not say it was suicide because the policy would not have paid out.
'There is plenty of evidence, mostly circumstantial, which would show he had a motive.
'If he did not do it, the death was a huge coincidence. In my judgment he would have been capable of doing so.
'He has been shown to be dishonest, calculating, egocentric, manipulative and a control freak.
'Everyone has been united in regarding this death as suspicious. I would rather use the Scottish definition that it is not proven, not the English definition of not guilty.'
Det Insp Tim Guyton said he would now be reviewing the evidence put before the coroner.
CAPTION(S):
Paul Ramsden; Paula Ramsden
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| Publication: | The Birmingham Post (England) |
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| Date: | Apr 16, 2002 |
| Words: | 670 |
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