Sarah Albone: Ex-partner felt 'freedom' after killing Biggleswade mum-of-three found in suitcase
Officers searched the property where the body of Sarah Albone was found in February
A man accused of murdering a mum-of-three and hiding her body in a wheelie bin for months went "numb" when he attacked her - and a sense of "freedom" when she was dead , he told a jury.
Matthew Waddell, 35, put the body of his former partner Sarah Albone in a suitcase which he kept in a bin at the back of their Bedfordshire home where it was found three months later.
He told Luton Crown Court that on the night of the attack, Ms Albone, 38, came downstairs and began to shout at him.
He said he snapped after suffering from "years of abuse" from 5ft 1in-tall Ms Albone, who had multiple sclerosis.
”It was like a curtain came down. It is a feeling like you would not believe. You literally go numb. You stop feeling," said Waddell.
The prosecution claims that Ms Albone had been in a “toxic relationship” with Waddell who launched a “frenzied and horrific attack.”
After killing her, Waddell told her family and friends she was receiving treatment at a hospital in London and could not be contacted. He sent text messages from her mobile phone, used her bank card and sold her belongings.
Waddell denies murdering the mother-of-three at her home in Winston Crescent in Biggleswade between 20 November last year and 26 February.
Prosecutor Martin Mulgrew said on: “On 25 February this year, the body of Sarah Albone was found in a wheelie bin at the rear of her home in Winston Crescent, Biggleswade.
“Her body was stuffed in a suitcase. The suitcase was in a wheelie bin and the bin was taped shut. She had been dead for several months.”Scenes of Crime Officers found the purple suitcase wrapping in industrial cling film under the remains of a carpet in the bin. She was found in her pyjamas in the foetal position.
Ms Albone's cause of death was airway obstruction caused by catastrophic injuries to the head, a post-mortem examination found. She had broken ribs and injuries to her body.
Waddell's barrister Naeem Mian KC asked him why he did not leave Ms Albone.
He replied: “Because I loved her and wanted it to work. No matter how many times I left. How many times she kicked me out. We got back together all the time.
“I loved her. I was actually in love with the woman. Every time we broke up she said she needed me.”
Asked if he exerted controlling behaviour over her, he replied: “No one could exert control over Sarah. She did what she did when she wanted.”
After killing her, Waddell said he covered her with a duvet and put a wash on because he had blood on his clothing.
“I felt free as I could breathe. In a sense there was a bit of freedom. I wasn’t under any torment - everything was gone," he added.
Waddell said he went to the shop to buy beers and to a friend where he got some cocaine, but he said he was destroyed after she died and did not sleep for over a week.
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