How I told my children their mother was a killer

The husband of killer Sheila Jones, who beat her own grandmother to death, today spoke of his "horrendous" ordeal and how he broke the news to their children that their mother was a murderer.

Lee Jones, of Brownhills Road, Norton Canes, said he was left in the dark about what his wife had done when police launched the murder investigation following the death of frail pensioner Daisy Myring last year.

The mother-of-two was jailed for at least 22 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court last November after admitting that she killed the 92-year-old.

Mr Jones, aged 41, said it was still hard to believe his wife had been capable of such a crime.

After starting a new life for himself and his sons, aged seven and nine, he said he was now considering filing for divorce. The court heard last year how his 36-year-old wife had fleeced her grandmother out of her £7,000 savings.

She launched the attack with a stool at Mrs Myring's home in Albion Road, Brownhills, on May 31. The partially blind pensioner was found with multiple head injuries, numerous cuts and bruises, and died in hospital. Mr Jones said: "I didn't suspect anything. I was told about Daisy the following morning by Sheila's brother David.

Sheila seemed really upset." He said he had no idea where the stolen money had been spent and that he had not known his wife to be violent. Mr Jones was also initially considered a police suspect and has since suffered a breakdown and is being treated for depression.

"Going through all this has been horrendous," he said.

Trying to protect his sons, he said he told them at first that their mother was helping to find the killer. He added: "On the day she was sentenced the boys were at school.

"I picked them up, brought them home and sat them down to explain what had happened.

"They were as shocked as me. It's still hard to believe now."

Jones was caught as she walked down Betty's Lane, Norton Canes, carrying two black bin bags – which contained the murder weapon and a bloodied pillowcase.