Victim was stabbed in the heart, Wolverhampton murder trial told
A man died after being stabbed through the heart by his partner, after he covered up four earlier knife attacks by her, a jury heard.
John Fletcher was in a 'turbulent and difficult' relationship with Caroline Loweth for three years when tragedy struck, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.
Both were heavy drinkers and had assaulted each other in the past, said Mr Peter Grieves-Smith, prosecuting, who added: "It is a peculiar feature of this case that no matter how turbulent it was they stuck together to the end."
Neighbours heard shouting before 53-year-old former relief pub manager Mr Fletcher was wounded once at his partner's city centre flat in Market Street, Wolverhampton, shortly after 1pm on October 27 last year, it was claimed.
Loweth, aged 48, called the emergency services and claimed the victim had been peeling vegetables when he fell on the kitchen knife that plunged up to 13 centimetres into the left side of his chest, revealed the prosecutor.
Mr Grieves-Smith maintained: "She told calculated lies about the way the injury was caused as she tended to the man she had murdered."
Paramedics tried unsuccessfully to save Mr Fletcher and he died at the scene. A pathologist later concluded that something 'approaching severe force' was needed to inflict the fatal blow.
The prosecutor continued: "In his view, if the victim had fallen onto the knife it would have deflected away from him. A stabbing motion was needed to achieve that."
Both unmarried Mr Fletcher from Merridale Court, Merridale and the defendant had been drinking before his death. Tests showed he was nearly three times the drink-drive limit.
Mr Grieves-Smith suggested the defendant could have been angered by a picture frame being broken before the stabbing. He claimed she had a 'propensity' for using knives and had stabbed her partner on four earlier occasions.
Mr Fletcher had told friends and relatives that Loweth was to blame for the attacks and even made statements to police but later withdrew the comments forcing a potential prosecution to be dropped for lack of evidence, it was said.
Mr Grieves-Smith said: "He accused her of stabbing him before retracting the claim or came up with false explanations of how he had come by these injuries. Why? Loyalty? Who knows."
The lawyer added: "It was not all one way. He had assaulted her. That is the dynamic of the relationship and the background to what happened that day."
Loweth from Market Square, Wolverhampton denies murder and the case continues today.
