Bath man William Haxworth, who killed his wife at their Lansdown home last year by smothering her, will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court next month.
Upper Lansdown Mews in Bath | Photo © Bath Echo
The 88-year-old had been charged with murder, but during a “finding of fact” hearing, the jury had been told he was not fit to stand trial.
Last month, they found that he had unlawfully killed his 85-year-old wife Delia at their home in Upper Lansdown Mews in June 2024.
He had been bailed by the court for psychiatric reports with a further hearing scheduled for Tuesday 28th October. However, the case has now been adjourned until 19th December.
On 18th June last year, police had been alerted when members of the public called reporting concerns for an elderly man who had climbed scaffolding on Bennett Street and told those trying to help him that he had murdered his wife.
Mr Haxworth repeated the claim to police. At the couple’s home, officers found Mrs Haxworth deceased. A postmortem examination revealed that she had died from suffocation, with evidence of smothering.
Despite his initial comments, Mr Haxworth gave police no account of what had happened and was deemed unfit to stand trial, so no defence case was presented.
