Derbyshire dad pleads guilty to murdering wife as young son slept upstairs
A Derby father has pleaded guilty to murdering his wife after stabbing her multiple times at their Littleover home while their 11-year-old son slept in his room.
On the second day of his trial at Derby Crown Court, Conrad Iyayi, who previously denied the charge, changed his plea in front of family members of his victim, mother-of-three Katy Harris.
The prosecution described the attack as “a brutal and needless killing” on his partially-naked partner in the kitchen of their semi-detached home in Oak Crescent.
Iyayi then called the police early the following morning from a nearby phone box and told them: “I have killed my wife”.
Adjourning sentencing until 18 August, Judge Shaun Smith KC said: "Mr Iyayi, I don't know whether or not you can or cannot remember what happened that evening.
“I know from my own experience that very often, even though someone has done something really bad, they say they can't remember and people are sceptical.
“If you can remember what you did or why you did it obviously that's going to help but if you can't you can't, it's as simple as that."
Yesterday, when the case opened at Derby Crown Court, a jury of eight women and four men heard two 999 calls Iyayi made to the police shortly before 7.30am on 6 February 2022.
In the first call, he said: “Just get the police here straight away. Get the police here, I have killed somebody."
When asked who he had killed, Iyayi replied: "My wife."
After Iyayi was arrested he gave a prepared statement to police in which he said he had bought what he believed was methadone online through the dark web.
He said he had ingested it sometime after 10.30pm on 5 February last year and realised it was not what he thought it was.
Iyayi said: "I was hallucinating, my heart was beating making me think I was going to die. I woke up the next morning and walked past the kitchen where I saw my wife.
"What I thought was a dream must have been reality and I contacted the police. I had no intention of harming Kathryn, prior to this incident we'd had a nice evening cooking together and watching TV."
Ms Harris, a 52-year-old mother of three, suffered seven penetrating stab wounds to the chest caused by her husband.
She also received defensive wounds as she fought off her attacker.
In a joint tribute, released on what would have been her 53rd birthday on 1 March 2022, her children Alexa, then 28, Phoebe, then 23 and Theo, said: "She was an advocate for young people and believed in everyone's potential, always encouraging them to be their best selves.
"She was incredibly supportive and efficient and she dedicated her life to her children.
"The loss of our mother is the most sudden and tragic event we will experience in our lives. Although a victim in this circumstance, our mother was not a victim in life.
"Katy was a fearless woman, she spoke her mind and stood up for herself and others. The pain that we feel now that our mother has been taken from us is indescribable, however, we will move forward as a family with the spirit of our mum with us forever."
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