A man killed his wife with a hammer, concealed her body in a freezer and then downloaded Tinder while contacting escorts.
The details came to light when David Barraclough was sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 9 for murdering his wife, Carolann Barraclough, British prosecutors said. He will serve at least 22 years and one month, with credit for time already spent in custody.
“David Barraclough tried to portray himself as a victim of domestic abuse who had been left with no alternative but to kill his wife, and as someone devastated by what had occurred,” Senior Crown Prosecutor Jill May said in a press release. “The evidence told a very different story.”
In February, Barraclough attacked 37-year-old Carolann as she lay in bed at their home in Horbury, England, according to court proceedings. He taped her hands and ankles, placed a garbage bag over her head and wrapped her body in a duvet before hiding it inside a chest freezer in a utility room.
For the next two weeks, prosecutors said, Barraclough concealed the killing by telling relatives that Carolann was in the hospital and that he was the only person permitted to visit her.
He also posed as his wife, sending messages from her phone to create the impression that she was recovering.
“I’m starting to feel a bit better,” Barraclough wrote in a March 2 text to the couple’s daughter, according to court proceedings cited by Sky News. “I’ll be home soon.”
Two days later, he sent another message to their daughter: “Love you. Have a good day.”
During that period, Barraclough downloaded Tinder and was seen “regularly” visiting bars in surveillance footage, prosecutors said. Bank records further showed that he withdrew substantial sums from the couple’s joint account, reducing the balance to just 21 cents.
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On March 5, Barraclough entered the Wakefield District Police Headquarters in Normanton and made a blunt confession to a receptionist: “I’ve killed my wife.” He reportedly added that he was “heartbroken,” “confused” and “in a haze.”
Officers later discovered Carolann’s body inside the freezer and arrested Barraclough on suspicion of murder.
“This was not the behavior of a heartbroken man,” prosecutors said in the press release, “but rather of one who was perfectly happy going about his life as normal.”
Barraclough later claimed he had acted in self-defense after Carolann struck him with a hammer. However, prosecutors said surveillance footage showed no visible injuries on him around the time of her death. Relatives also described his treatment of Carolann as “controlling” and “manipulative,” according to West Yorkshire Police.
He initially denied the charge, but pleaded guilty to murder on Oct. 6, the opening day of his trial.
“As your wife lay dead and undiscovered in the freezer, contrary to your subsequent claims to be heartbroken, you joined dating apps, contacted escorts and exchanged explicit messages with another woman,” Judge Andrew Stubbs said at the sentencing hearing, which Barraclough did not attend, according to Sky News. “You used your wife’s bank card from your joint account to withdraw large amounts of money to support the life you were living.”
Prosecutors also praised the couple’s eldest daughter for showing “incredible bravery” and providing crucial evidence in the case.
Police shared a tribute from the family honoring Carolann.
“Carolann was a vital and irreplaceable part of our family. We will remember her for her warmth, her laughter, her love for people and, above everything else, the love she had for her children,” the family statement read. “The world is a much darker place without her.”