Man sentenced to 15 years for killing his wife

  • Meridian
Jon Cudworth was found guilty at Canterbury Crown Court Credit: ITV Meridian

A man who reported his wife missing after he had killed her has been found guilty of manslaughter at court today.

Jonathan Cudworth killed his wife, Mariola (known as Mika) at their home in Mill Lane, Deal after an argument and tried to dispose of her body in a nearby field. He then reported her missing but officers found traces of her blood in the house and charged Cudworth with murder. It wasn’t until he was on remand that he revealed where he had disposed of her body.

On 30 April 2015, at 9.31am Cudworth reported to the police that his wife was missing.

He told officers that the last time he had seen her was between 12.30am and 1am Wednesday 29 April.

The 35-year-old said they had an argument that evening and she had stormed out when she said she wanted to clear her head.

On 3 May, Mika was declared a high risk missing person and an appeal was issued asking the public to help locate her.

Cudworth looking over sea wall at Deal Credit: Kent Police

CCTV images show Cudworth looking over the pier at Deal on 29 April at 9.09am, before he reported his wife missing. Officers later established that he had discarded Mika’s bag and phone into the sea.

Cudworth seen buying cleaning products Credit: Kent Police

Cudworth was seen on CCTV buying cleaning products on 30 April, an hour after he reported her missing and after he had booked the car in at a car wash.

Cudworth’s mobile phone was also seized and officers found evidence of him accessing a website article entitled ‘the rate of decay in a corpse’ . When officers examined the family car they also found evidence of blood stains, which again matched that of Mika.

Cudworth seen driving Mika's body away Credit: Kent Police

On 7 May, he was charged and he was remanded in custody. Despite several attempts, he refused to tell officers or any relatives where Mika’s body was.

It wasn’t until four days later he told a relative who directed officers to the scene and they found the body of Mika in a field.

Following a post mortem examination it was established that Mika had died from blood loss following four stab wounds on 29 April.

At Canterbury Crown Court, Cudworth denied murdering his wife. A jury found him guilty of manslaughter on Friday 15 January. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.