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Haverhill Murder - Woman sentenced to life

Suffolk.police.uk

Update 13 July 2012

A woman has today been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering the husband of a woman she used to care for.

Bunthawee Rimmer, aged 49 and of Castle Lane in Haverhill, had denied the murder of Paul Norfolk in his bed at the home they shared in December 2011.

On Friday 30 December, Mr Norfolk’s brother had called police as he was unable to contact the 77-year-old. Officers forced entry to the house and found Mr Norfolk deceased in the bed with Rimmer beside him. Mr Norfolk had suffered fatal head injuries, whilst Rimmer also had head injuries and was unconscious. A hammer, a selection of knives and blister packs for medication were also found in the bedroom.

Rimmer was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital for treatment for her injuries and was additionally found to be suffering from the effects of an overdose. Upon release from the hospital she was arrested and was taken into police custody on 31 December.

Rimmer had been living with Mr Norfolk and his wife since her husband died in 2010. She had been acting as a carer for the Norfolks, but in March 2011 Mrs Norfolk was admitted to a care home and Rimmer remained in the Castle Lane house with Mr Norfolk. Mr Norfolk then changed his will to leave the property and other assets to her.

Upon her arrest Rimmer made no comment to officers about the murder, but did disclose to a health worker that her injuries were self-inflicted and she claimed that she had been in an abusive relationship with Mr Norfolk. When interviewed by psychiatrists Rimmer claimed to have been suffering from depression and to have no memory of the incident. A post mortem examination found that Mr Norfolk died as a result of blunt force head injuries consistent with at least 12 strikes from a hammer.

On Tuesday 3 January 2012 Rimmer was charged with murder and appeared before Bury St Edmunds Magistrates Court. On 16 March she denied murdering Mr Norfolk at Ipswich Crown Court, and following a two week long trial was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Temporary Detective Superintendent Jes Fry of the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team said: “The court has heard how Ms Rimmer took the life of a much-loved brother and godfather – sadly for the family and friends of Paul Norfolk, they were not able to hear why this happened from Rimmer herself. Whilst the weapons and medication packets found in the bedroom tell part of the story, we may never know exactly what happened before Mr Norfolk’s death, though it would appear from his position that he was asleep when he was attacked. I would like to pass my sympathies to the family and friends of Paul Norfolk, and thank officers and staff for their hard work on this sad case.”

The family of Paul Norfolk have released the following statement:

"Paul was the youngest of a family of four and had a happy childhood in the village of Ridgewell. We were a happy and united family. Paul was a popular and well liked member of the community.

"At eighteen years old, he joined the Tank Regiment and served in the army for three years. He was well-liked by his army friends and was still in touch with one of them at the time of his death.

"For thirty years he was employed at IFF in Haverhill. Upon marriage he settled into his house in Castle Lane, where he was still living at the time of his death.

"Paul was a very generous, kind and sympathetic man. He was liked and respected by everyone who knew him especially by his neighbours and their children by whom he was affectionately called 'Uncle'. He was always ready to help others.

"His brother and I (both in our eighties) are completely devastated by the wickedly cruel way in which our gentle, loving and much loved brother was taken from us. It was a blow from which we shall never recover. Our remaining years will be spent grieving for him, who brought joy and happiness into our lives and whom we shall always remember as our dearest Paul. With all our love, Peter and Pansy."

Update 6pm - 3 January 2012

Suffolk Police have this evening, Tuesday 3 January charged a woman following the murder of a man in Haverhill.

Bunthawee Rimmer aged 49 years from Castle Lane, Haverhill has been charged with the murder of Paul Norfolk aged 77 years from Castle Lane, Haverhill and will appear before Bury St Edmunds Magistrates Court tomorrow morning, Wednesday 4 January.

2 January 2012 Update

Ipswich Magistrates Court has this morning authorised a 36-hour extension of the custody time limit of the woman arrested on 31 December on suspicion of murder.

The arrest followed investigations into the discovery of a man’s body in a property in Castle Lane, Haverhill on Friday 30 December.

The woman, aged in her forties, remains in custody at the Bury Police Investigation Centre.

1 January 2012 Update

A woman remains in custody today, Sunday 1 January, arrested on suspicion of murdering a man in Haverhill.

The woman from Haverhill and in her 40s is being held in custody at Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre.

The man, who was found deceased in his home in Castle Lane, Haverhill has been formally identified as Paul Norfolk, aged 77 years.

A Post Mortem examination took place earlier today and it has been established that Mr Norfolk died as a result of head injuries.

Update

A woman arrested on suspicion of murder has been released from hospital and taken to Bury St Edmunds Police Investigation Centre for questioning.

Suffolk Police arrested the woman, aged in her 40s and from Haverhill earlier today in Addenbrooke’s Hospital following the death of a man found at an address in Haverhill.

A member of the public called police at around 10:05pm yesterday, Friday 30 December, reporting concern for the welfare of a resident in Castle Lane. Police attended the property where they failed to get a response and subsequently forced entry

The body of a man was discovered inside.

A woman was also found inside with injuries. She was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital where she received treatment.

A cordon remains at the property whilst officers conduct further enquiries and scenes of crime officers attend.

Formal identification of the man, who is aged in his 70s has not yet taken place.

A post mortem examination will take place in due course to ascertain the cause of death.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Suffolk Police on 101.

Update

Suffolk Police have arrested a woman on suspicion of murder, following the death of a man in Haverhill.

A member of the public called police at around 10:05pm yesterday, Friday 30 December, reporting concern for the welfare of a resident in Castle Lane. Police attended the property where they failed to get a response and subsequently forced entry.

The body of a man was discovered inside.

A woman was also found inside with injuries. She was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital where she is receiving treatment.

Police have arrested the woman who is believed to be in her 40s and from the Haverhill area whilst in hospital, on suspicion of murder and she will be moved to a Police Investigation Centre once released from hospital.

A cordon remains at the property whilst officers conduct further enquiries and scenes of crime officers attend.

Formal identification of the man, who is aged in his 70s has not yet taken place.

A post mortem examination will take place in due course to ascertain the cause of death.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Suffolk Police on 101.

Saturday 31 December

A man was last night, Friday 30 December, found dead at an address in Haverhill.

A member of the public called police at around 10:05pm yesterday, reporting concern for the welfare of a resident in Castle Lane. Police attended the property where they failed to get a response and subsequently forced entry.

The body of a man was discovered inside.

A woman was also found inside with a head injury. She has been taken to Addenbrooke’s where she currently remains.

A cordon has been put up at the property and officers will remain on scene throughout the night.

Thai woman who beat pensioner lover, 77, to death with a hammer when he changed his will to leave her everything is jailed for life

• Paul Norfolk bludgeoned to death with 12oz claw hammer as he slept

• Wrote his wife out of will and left entire £340k estate to Thai lover

By Rick Dewsbury / DailyMail.co.uk

July 13, 2012

A Thai carer who bludgeoned to death her pensioner lover with a claw hammer after he changed his will to leave her £340,000 was today jailed for life.

Bunthawee Rimmer, 49, launched the frenzied attack on veteran soldier Paul Norfolk with a 12oz hammer as he slept.

She arrived in Britain in 1998 after her late husband Geoffrey Rimmer met her on a Thai beach while she was selling doughnuts.

Mr Rimmer died in xxx and Bunthawee the started a sexual relationship with Mr Norfolk - her dead husband's best friend - in 2010 after she was employed to care for his sick wife Esme, who suffers from alzheimer's.

She savagely hacked her OAP lover to death just three months after he changed his will to leave her his entire £340,000 estate - instead of his frail wife.

When police broke into Mr Norfolk's home on December 31 last year they found Rimmer lying on the bed next to his bloodied body.

The killer, also known as Pacer, had slit her own throat, stabbed herself in the chest, taken an overdose and even drunk toilet cleaner in a failed bid to take her own life.

She was taken to hospital but was arrested and taken into police custody on 31 December, when medics released her.

Rimmer told police she believed Mr Norfolk planned to throw her out of his home, a claim which a judge rejected.

Rimmer accepted killing Mr Norfolk, but denied murder and claimed diminished responsibility, blaming depression she was suffering from at the time.

A jury found Rimmer guilty of murder by a majority verdict having deliberated for seven hours and 35 minutes.

Jailing her at Ipswich Crown Court, with a minimum tariff of 11 years, Mr Justice John Saunders said Rimmer's attack had been 'wicked'.

He said: 'I do not lose sight of the fact that a decent man has lost his life in a brutal fashion at the age of 77.

'Paul Norfolk was by all accounts a well liked, decent man. His death is a tragedy for his family, some of whom have given evidence and demonstrated admirable fairness and restraint in the way they did this.

'No-one should lose their life in the way that Paul Norfolk did.

'It was a wicked thing to do, as I am satisfied the defendant recognised and led to her trying to kill herself.'

Mr Justice John Saunders added: 'I am satisfied that the defendant's account that Paul Norfolk was saying that he was going to dispense with her services as a carer was untrue.

'It is inconsistent with the rest of the evidence which was to the effect that Paul Norfolk was saying that he couldn't live without the defendant.

'In the early hours of the morning of the 30th December the defendant armed herself with her hammer and struck Paul Norfolk at least twelve fierce blows with the hammer.

'I will deal with the defendant on the basis that this was a determined attempt on her own life and she did cause herself significant injury.

'I do not know why she killed Paul Norfolk. Thereafter in prison I am satisfied that her mental state, which was affected by depression, deteriorated further.'

Rimmer murdered Mr Norfolk in the early hours of December 30 last year by hitting him over the head 12 times with a claw hammer while he was asleep.

The court heard she had heard voices when she got up in the night, saying: 'Dead, dead, dead.'

The killer later admitted to 'vaguely' remembering making a cup of tea and going downstairs to pick up a hammer and three knives.

During her trial prosecutors told the court she had moved into Mr Norfolk's home in Haverhill, Suffolk, in 2010, after her own husband died of natural causes.

She carried on living in the semi-detached house after Mrs Norfolk, who she cared for, was moved into a care home.

Later she started a sexual relationship with Mr Norfolk, who was a former employee of scent firm International Flowers and Fragrances (IFF), in Haverhill.

The pensioner, who served in the army's Tank Regiment for three years from the age of 18, then changed his will three months before his death to leave his entire estate to Rimmer instead of his wife.

Speaking through an interpreter, Rimmer, who has a son from a previous marriage, said that she had felt sad because Mr Norfolk told her he wanted to 'dump her'.

Andrew Johnson, prosecuting, said: 'I put it to you that, for reasons that you do not want to tell this jury, you decided to kill Mr Norfolk.'

Rimmer replied: 'I have never thought of killing Mr Norfolk. I love him. I have no reason to kill him.'

When asked about her sexual relationship with Mr Norfolk, Rimmer replied: 'I did not really want to but I wanted to please him because I knew it would make him happy. When he was angry he would grab my shoulders.'

When asked why she did not call an ambulance after Mr Norfolk was injured, she said that she was unaware of what had happened because of the pills she had taken.

Following the sentence Mr Norfolk's family released a statement paying tribute to him.

It read: 'Paul was the youngest of a family of four and had a happy childhood in the village of Ridgewell. We were a happy and united family. Paul was a popular and well liked member of the community.

'At eighteen years old, he joined the Tank Regiment and served in the army for three years. He was well-liked by his army friends and was still in touch with one of them at the time of his death.

'For thirty years he was employed at IFF in Haverhill. Upon marriage he settled into his house in Castle Lane, where he was still living at the time of his death.

'Paul was a very generous, kind and sympathetic man. He was liked and respected by everyone who knew him especially by his neighbours and their children by whom he was affectionately called 'Uncle'. He was always ready to help others.

'His brother and I (both in our eighties) are completely devastated by the wickedly cruel way in which our gentle, loving and much loved brother was taken from us. It was a blow from which we shall never recover.

'Our remaining years will be spent grieving for him, who brought joy and happiness into our lives and whom we shall always remember as our dearest Paul. With all our love, Peter and Pansy.'

Thai Lover Heard Voices Before Bludgeoned UK Man to Death

ChiangraiTimes.com

July 10, 2012

Thai National Bunthawee Rimmer accused of bludgeoning a 77-year-old man to death with a hammer has told a court that she heard voices in her head saying “dead, dead, dead” before the alleged attack.

Giving evidence during her trial at Ipswich Crown Court Bunthawee Rimmer told a jury that she had loved 77-year-old Paul Norfolk and had no reason to kill him.

Speaking through an interpreter 48-year-old Rimmer, who denies murdering Mr Norfolk shortly after Christmas last year, said that before the alleged killing she had taken an overdose of tablets because she “didn’t want to live anymore.”

She said she had felt sad because Mr Norfolk had told her her he wanted “to dump” her as he did not love her anymore and had another woman who loved him.

She said that on the night of December 29 she had got into bed next to Mr Norfolk and he had embraced and kissed her.

During the night she had got up to help him go to the toilet and after claims she had heard voices.

She had then made them both a cup of tea and “vaguely” remembered going downstairs to the kitchen, while Mr Norfolk went back to sleep, and picking up a hammer and three knives.

Questioned by prosecution counsel Andrew Jackson QC, Rimmer denied she had decided at that point to kill Mr Norfolk. “No. I was thinking of killing myself,” she said.

She said she vaguely remembered going back into the bedroom where Mr Norfolk was still asleep. Asked by Mr Jackson, “You took the hammer and you began to hit his head with it?” Rimmer replied, “I picked up a piece of wood and started moving it up and down.”

Asked if she accepted a hammer had caused the injuries to Mr Norfolk’s head Rimmer eplied, “I think so.”

She said she had then caused injuries to herself because she was “sad and disappointed” that Mr Norfolk did not love her anymore. “I loved him very much,” she said.

The court has heard that Rimmer, who was brought up in Thailand and was orphaned at the age of seven when her parents were killed in a car crash, had been married to Mr Norfolk’s best friend Geoffrey Rimmer and after his death had moved into Mr Norfolk’s home in Castle Lane, Haverhill to care for his invalid wife Esme.

Rimmer told the court that in the weeks leading up to Mr Norfolk’s death she had been depressed and had been to see her doctor who had prescribed sleeping tablets.

She claimed she had a sexual relationship with Mr Norfolk and had let him have sex with her because she regarded it as her job to make him happy.

She said that despite Mr Norfolk telling her he no longer loved her she had continued to share a bed with him because she was worried he might kill himself because he was worried about his wife Esme and the £2,800 montly cost of her care home.

It is alleged that Rimmer murdered Mr Norfolk between December 28-31 last year him by hitting him over the head 12 times with a claw hammer while he was asleep.

Rimmer was found unconscious in bed next to him holding his hand and a pathologist told the court that Mr Norfolk had probably been unconscious for at least 15 hours before he died.

The court has heard that two months before his death Mr Norfolk changed his will so that Rimmer would inherit his estate worth £340,000 although Rimmer told the court she was unaware of this.

The jury has been told there is no dispute that Rimmer killed Mr Norfolk and the issue was whether or not she was suffering from a form of depression which had impaired her mind at the time of the killing which would reduce the charge of murder to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

Haverhill murder trial carer: ‘I have done a bad thing’

HaverhillEcho.co.uk

July 6, 2012

A carer accused of murdering a Haverhill pensioner told a friend that she had “done a bad thing”, a court has heard.

Bunthawee Rimmer, 49, did not give any further details while being visited in prison following her arrest and claimed to be unable to remember what had happened.

She has denied the murder of Paul Norfolk, 77, who was found dead in bed at his home in Castle Lane, Haverhill on December 30 last year.

A jury at Ipswich Crown Court has heard how Mr Norfolk was lying in a pool of blood with blood splattered on the wall and ceiling after being struck on the head with a claw hammer 12 times as he slept.

Despite the injuries eventually proving fatal, it is believed Mr Norfolk may have lain unconscious for up to 15 hours before his death, said prosecutor Andrew Jackson.

Mr Jackson described the attack as “deliberate, brutal and sustained.” At no point did Rimmer seek help for Mr Norfolk.

The court has heard evidence from beauty therapist Ratchanok Kemp, a friend of Rimmer’s who had visited her in prison. Miss Kemp said: “She didn’t seem herself. She said she couldn’t remember what happened.”

Rimmer, who is following the proceedings through a Thai interpreter, said she had tried to swallow bathroom cleaner because she had “done a bad thing”, said Miss Kemp. She had tried to keep in touch with Rimmer to help her because she could not read or write English.

On more than one occasion before Mr Norfolk’s death, Rimmer had contacted her to ask for a massage because she was tired, in pain and unhappy, Miss Kemp told the jury, but Rimmer had not followed up those requests.

Earlier the court heard a statement from legal executive Sarah Furlong who was asked by Mr Norfolk to amend the terms of his will to exclude his wife Esme, who has dementia and is being cared for in a residential home, from inheriting his house in Castle Lane, where they had lived for 40 years.

Instead the will was changed in favour of Rimmer, allowing her to inherit the house and much of Mr Norfolk’s estate. Mr Norfolk did not have any children and told Ms Furlong that his wife was losing mental and physical capability.

“You may think money played a rather important role,’’ Mr Jackson told the jury. ‘’Whether or not she killed him for his money only she knows.’’

He added: ‘’She did it by raining blows on to his head using a 16oz claw hammer. He did not move, he did not struggle.”

Rimmer, whose husband Geoffrey died from natural causes in 2010 aged 77, had moved in to care for Mrs Norfolk before she moved to a care home and then stayed on because she had nowhere else to go.

Ms Furlong said: “He thought the world of this lady and seemed to have a genuine affection for what she was doing.”

Care home manager Ann Curley said in a statement read to the court that Mr Norfolk had seemed very resentful about having to pay £2,790 a month for his wife’s care.

She said Mrs Norfolk never seemed to resent the presence of Rimmer.

When the case opened, Mr Jackson told the jury that there was no dispute about Rimmer having killed Mr Norfolk. She claimed to be suffering from a type of depression which had impaired her thinking and amounted to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

When police found the body of Mr Norfolk they also found, huddling in the same bed, Rimmer who had attempted to cut her own throat and swallowed bathroom cleaner and anti depressant tablets.

It is alleged that Rimmer had told a psychiatric nurse after her arrest that she had been in an abusive relationship with Mr Norfolk and claimed he had forced her to act as a masseuse to other men.

Mr Norfolk, a retired foreman, had been best friends with Geoffrey Rimmer who had worked with him at IFF in Haverhill. Both had travelled to Thailand in the 1990s where Mr Rimmer had met the defendant who later married him.

The trial continues.

Thai carer 'beat lover to death with hammer after will changed'

A carer ''brutally'' beat her lover to death in a ''deliberate and sustained'' hammer attack after he changed his will to leave her a £340,000 legacy, a court has heard

Telegraph.co.uk

July 2, 1012

Paul Norfolk, 77, was found dead in his blood-splattered bed at his home in Castle Lane, Haverhill, Suffolk, when police entered the house on December 30, prosecutor Andrew Jackson told Ipswich Crown Court. Alongside him police found the badly injured defendant, Bunthawee Rimmer.

Less than three months before his death, Mr Norfolk had changed his will to leave his house and most of his money to Rimmer instead of his wife, who was in a care home.

Rimmer, 49, originally from Thailand and who claimed she was in a relationship with Mr Norfolk, is alleged to have beaten Mr Norfolk to death as he slept. She denies murder.

Mr Jackson said Mr Norfolk had lain injured and unconscious but alive for 15 hours following the attack. Rimmer did nothing to seek help, he added.

''You may think money played a rather important role,'' Mr Jackson told jurors. ''Whether or not she killed him for his money only she knows.''

He added: ''She did it by raining blows on to his head using a 16oz claw hammer. He did not move, he did not struggle.

''He was probably asleep when he was murdered.''

After the alleged attack, Rimmer drank toilet cleaner, stabbed herself in the chest, slashed her own throat and swallowed tablets, the prosecutor added.

When interviewed by police, she claimed she had begun a relationship with Mr Norfolk and said he had been abusive towards her.

Rimmer, also known as Pacer, had moved into Mr Norfolk's home in late 2010 to help care for his wife, Esme, shortly after the death of her husband, Geoffrey Rimmer.

Mr Rimmer, who died from natural causes, was a close friend of Mr Norfolk and the pair had travelled to Thailand regularly during the 1990s.

Mr Rimmer met the defendant in Thailand and she moved to the UK before marrying him in 1998.

Mr Jackson told the court that Mrs Rimmer had inherited her late husband's pension but his family had wanted her to move out of the marital home, also in Castle Lane.

At his funeral, Rimmer is said to have told family members she had ''three men'' interested in her and one ''lived up the road'' - a reference, the prosecution said, to Mr Norfolk.

Within months Rimmer had moved into Mr and Mrs Norfolk's home and began caring for Esme, who survives her husband. Mrs Norfolk had suffered a stroke and the early onset of dementia, the court heard.

Rimmer remained in the home after Mrs Norfolk moved into residential care.

Mr Norfolk first changed his will in early 2011 to leave his house to Rimmer and then again in October 2011 to leave her any cash left in the estate.

A solicitor, Sarah Furlong, had raised concerns about Mr Norfolk's capacity to make decisions over his estate but later agreed to make the changes, the court heard.

All of his assets, apart from small sums left to family members, were to go to Rimmer.

Shortly before his death Mr Norfolk transferred a sum of money to a Thai bank account, Mr Jackson said.

''He was not seen alive again,'' he added.

Mr Jackson told jurors: ''You will hear claims that she was suffering from some form of mental illness, some form of depression, at the time.''

But he added: ''This was a quite deliberate, brutal and sustained attack - at least 12 blows with that hammer which would have taken some time.''

Mr and Mrs Norfolk had lived in their Castle Lane home for more than 40 years and had no children.

Mr Norfolk and Mr Rimmer had worked together at a fragrance manufacturing company in Haverhill. The pair began travelling to countries including Thailand, Vietnam and Burma after the death of Mr Rimmer's first wife.

The case is expected to last up to three weeks.