Jealous husband Jon Clinton jailed for wife's murder
A jealous husband who bludgeoned and strangled his wife to death after she left him and found a new man has been jailed for a minimum of 26 years.
Jon Clinton killed wife Dawn at their home in Bracknell, Berkshire, after he hacked into her Facebook account and found evidence of the relationship.
Police found her body last year and had to evacuate nearby properties because the home's gas supply had been left on.
Clinton was found guilty by a jury at Reading Crown Court on Monday.
During the two-week trial the court heard that Mrs Clinton, 33, had left her "controlling" husband a few weeks before her death and moved into her mother's home.
Depressed Clinton took the break up badly and on 14 November last year he "torched" Mrs Clinton's "pride and joy" - a purple Land Rover she called Fred, the court heard.
When she visited the marital home to collect car documents the next day, Clinton killed her in a "savage attack", the court heard.
Police were called and broke down the door to find the house filled with gas fumes and Mrs Clinton dead in the living room, the jury heard.
Police found her intoxicated husband standing at the open loft hatch, causing officers concern he planned to harm himself.
He told them: "It's the voices in my head."
Mrs Clinton's father David Sims said in a statement: "To say justice has been done, is some comfort to me and Dawn's mother Jennifer.
"We have had our daughter taken from us in tragic circumstances and she can never be replaced.
"Everyone who met Dawn was touched by her - she was vivacious, funny, sociable, caring and warm.
"Above all, she was a loving and devoted mother to her children, who now have to face their future without her love, support and guidance."
Det Sgt Phil Jones said: "Clinton has contested his innocence ever since murdering his wife.
"However, I am pleased that the jury has convicted him."
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson added: "Jon Clinton was a controlling husband and couldn't accept Dawn's increasing independence, so he killed her in cold blood, driven by jealousy and anger."
Clinton, formerly of Inchwood, Bracknell, was also jailed for two years concurrently for arson, which he had also denied.