SLEEPING KILLER JAILED FOR LIFE; He beat wife to death with clawhammer.
A loving husband who battered his wife to death in his sleep with a hammer was jailed for life yesterday.Dean Sokell woke up to find himself attacking his 31-year-old wife Eleni with the hammer he had used to fix their bed the day before.
And he carried on hitting her in a frenzied attack which only ended when he stabbed her in the chest to silence her screams.
The 27-year-old chef fled the scene but gave himself up to police after sending them a letter admitting to the killing and saying he had no idea why he had carried out the murder.
Friends told police the couple were happily married and rarely quarrelled.
They had just moved into a new flat in Paignton, Devon, the week before and had been out celebrate his first wage packet of his new job on the night of the killing.
The prosecution and defence at Exeter Crown Court each commissioned psychiatric reports which showed Sokell was not mentally ill.
The court heard Sokell, who had no previous convictions, admitted murder on the basis that he had carried on the attack to silence his wife's screams even after he woke up and realised what he was doing.
Anthony Donne, prosecuting, said Sokell met his wife in 1992 and married her the next year.
They had two children, one of them a baby who died aged six months.
He said Sokell returned from a night out with Eleni and a friend in March last year in which he had drunk eight or nine pints of lager.
The couple went to bed and made love and he woke up about 30 minutes later and attacked her with a clawhammer which he had used to fix their headboard which still lay beside the bed.
He hit her 31 times with the hammer and stabbed her seven times with a kitchen knife.
The only explanation he gave to police after he gave himself up was that his marriage was stuck in a vicious circle with no money.
He told police he carried on hitting her and then stabbed her because she was screaming and whimpering and he was worried neighbours had heard the noise.
He then went on the run but sent a letter to police which led to the body being found.
The letter said:"I do not know why I did it. I just clicked. I woke up clutching the hammer and carrying out the horrific attack. I used the knife to stop the noises she made.
"I will need help to understand what I have done and why I have done it."
Christopher Wilson-Smith, defending, said Sokell was a gentle giant with no history of violence.
He said:"He loved his wife and has never at any stage tried to blame her or suggest she was the cause of the tragedy.
"He knows he could have run a defence of automatism but he told me he has committed a dreadful crime and he feels he deserves to be punished.
"It is extraordinary there is no medical explanation. Members of the public will find it very difficult to understand how that can be the position."
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
|---|---|
| Date: | Sep 17, 1998 |
| Words: | 529 |
| Previous Article: | Shopping is latest craze for 90s man. |
| Next Article: | BLIND FAITH. |