on August 12, 2024
A horse trainer phoned a friend after stabbing her husband in the back and told her 'he is dead' and said he 'went on and on at me', a court has heard.
<img src="https://blog.kakaocdn.net/dn/bgf6Bb/btsBgaNdLDH/1vwKYuH0cKbgXRuBdejUS1/img.webp"; style="max-width:400px;float:left;padding:10px 10px 10px 0px;border:0px;" alt="\ud504\ub9ac\ubbf8\uc5b4\ud504\ub85c \ud654\uba74 \uc804\ud658 \ud6a8\uacfc \uc801\uc6a9 \ubc29\ubc95 1\ubd84 \uc815\ub9ac" />Christine Rawle, 70, plunged a knife between the shoulders of Ian Rawle, 72, as he walked past her after they bickered about mucking out the horses, prosecutors claim.
The pair, who were likened in court to The Twits from Roald Dahl , were living in different parts of their north Devon farm and were on the verge of divorce at the time of his death on August 21, 2022.
Rawle, who denies murder, was later seen on police bodyworn footage in tears as she was arrested - telling cops her husband was 'such a cruel b******.'
Rawle's 'best friend' Ally Gilbert told the jury at Exeter Crown Court today that the defendant had called her after the incident to tell her what had happened and complain about her husband's behavior.
The moment Christine Rawle, 70, from North Devon, is arrested on suspicion of murdering her husband Ian Rawle has been released by police
Christine Rawle, 70, had been on the phone to her daughter before allegedly plunging a knife into her husband's back, a court heard
Police officers at the scene in Devon on the day that Mr Rawley was found dead in August 2022
Mrs Gilbert said she moved down to Devon in April 2019 and met Rawle at a coffee morning when they quickly bonded over a shared interest in horses and became best friends.
On the morning of Mr Rawle's death, she told the court the defendant messaged and invited her over but at the time she was out walking her dogs and then received a phone call after the incident.
She said: 'She phoned me about 2.30pm. She said "he's dead."
'I said what happened? and she asked me if I was going to look after the animals.
'She said he went "on and on and on at me." It was a very short phone call.'
Mrs Gilbert said Rawle had mentioned divorce to her on several occasions and had a lot of health issues and <a href="https://www.vianafil.com/ed">시알리스복용법</a>; severe depression at the time.
She said the marriage had become so bad, the defendant would sleep in an area at the top of the stables and only go inside to use the bath and shower when she knew her husband wasn't there.
Prosecutor Sean Brunton KC told the jury Ms Rawle (pictured with a horse) had picked the knife up to cut some cord to tie up the gates as her husband had asked
The court also heard a series of text messages exchanged between Mrs Gilbert and Rawle in the weeks leading up to the stabbing.
In it, Rawle would complain of severe shoulder pain and two days before the killing said she was 'concerned about getting her divorce done quickly.'
Mrs Gilbert told the jury: 'She just wanted out and was trying to find a way. Her main concern was always her animals - she did not want to lose her animals.'
On the day itself, she was told Mr Rawle had gone out and asked if they could meet up later.
She added: 'He would constantly put her down - swear at her a lot. He would accuse her of being stupid, lazy, useless.
'She was unhappy and she was unwell. She loved him, she wanted to make things work, but it got to the point the only option she saw was divorce.'
The bodyworn footage shows Rawle calling her husband a 'cruel b******'
The on-going trial at Exeter Crown Court had previously likened the couple to Roald Dahl 's The Twits due to their constant bickering. Rawle denies murder
She said she felt Rawle had stayed with him 'for the animals.'
She added: 'She loved the animals - if she left them she did not have any idea how they would be looked after and be away from them.
'She is amazing around horses. She exudes calmness around them.
'She has helped lots of people - people would come in any issues and she would retrain them.
'She was upset, depressed and would cry every day,' she added.
The trial previously heard Rawle, who had picked the knife up to cut some cord to tie up the gates as her husband had asked, was on the phone to her daughter when she attacked him.
In police bodyworn footage, released by Devon and Cornwall Police after being shown to the jury, Rawle is taken in <a href="https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/?s=custody">custody</a>; and fights back tears as she tells cops: 'How can someone be so cruel? He is narcistic.
'Oh please god, he is such a cruel b******.
'How could you love someone and they are so calculatingly nasty to you.
'Even my dog and my horses. He will come and get me, he will kill me.'
Ms Rawle, who described herself on social media as 'the horse whisperer', ran away from the barn shouting 'help me, help me' as her husband followed her asking her to remove the knife, a court heard
The home of the Rawles, pictured on the day of the stabbing on August 2022
When told she was being arrested for his murder, Rawle was heard on camera saying: 'Oh god, why couldn't have someone stopped him keep doing this to me.
'I've tried that many times - I tried the other day to phone the police and it takes forever for them to pick up.
'You can't do a 999 call and say he's just shouting at me can you?'
The footage was released after being shown to the jury during the ongoing trial.
Exeter Crown Court also heard Rawle claims from a neighbour that Rawle would put viagra in his tea, chilli powder in his underpants and would wipe her backside with his ties.
And they jury heard she told her daughter on the phone on August 21, 2022: 'I've stabbed him.'
The court heard Rawles' adult daughter, who lives in Milton Keynes, hung up the call and called Thames Valley Police and the ambulance service.
But instead of calling for help, Rawle made a 28 second call to Mrs Gilbert, in which she asked her to 'sort her dogs out'.
After knifing her husband of 27 years, Rawle is said to have walked off from the barn on their land to the door of their isolated bungalow near Braunton in north Devon.
Prosecutor Sean Brunton KC told the jury she ran away shouting 'help me, help me' as her <a href="https://www.answers.com/search?q=husband">husband</a>; followed her asking her to remove the knife.
Mr Brunton told the court that Rawle's adult daughter had heard the couple arguing during a 10 minute phone call leading up to the incident.
He said that her daughter called police and the ambulance service, who tried to call Rawle but she initially didn't answer their calls.'
When police arrived at the scene, she told officers: 'I took his life because he was horrible to me. He terrorised. It was continuous. I wanted out.'
Court artist sketch of Christine Rawle, 69, at Exeter Crown Court charged with the murder of her husband Ian Rawle
Mr Brunton said when she was taken to the police station and questioned for more than six hours, she told police she 'was talking rubbish'.
And she claimed she 'couldn't remember' if she stabbed her husband or threw the knife.
When asked by police if she stabbed her husband, she said: 'I suppose I must have done, but I can't remember.
'He came to me and asked me to 'take the knife out of my back', I said no at first.
'I thought I'd cut his shirt, I thought I'd thrown the knife, I didn't realise [I'd stabbed him]. He was my world.'
Mr Brunton said: 'We say she changed her story because she knew it didn't look good.'
He also told the court the couple - who he previously likened to Roald Dahl's The Twits due to their constant bickering - had previously called police to the house.
He said in 1993, Rawle had got into trouble with the police over nuisance phone calls made to one of her husband's ex-partners.
A few years later, police were called to the house again when she stabbed her husband in the chest, Mr Brunton said.
He also told jurors they would hear evidence from a neighbour who would tell how Rawle would treat her husband.
Mr Brunton said: 'We fully accept Ian Rawle was not very nice to his wife, but that may have been for a reason.'
Rawle denies murder. The case continues.
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