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Police unconvinced by ex-editor’s claims he didn’t mean to kill wife

Police in court testified that crime scene evidence shows that Francis Matthews killed his wife after weeks of family strife

Francis Mathew.
Francis Mathew.

Former Gulf News editor-at-large claimed that he didn’t mean to murder his wife despite crime scene evidence to the contrary, according to several police officers testifying in court.

Mathew, 61, pleaded not guilty to the murder when he appeared in a Dubai court in September. According to police, he struck his wife in the head twice with a hammer following a dispute on July 4 at the couple’s villa in Umm Suqeim.

In court on Sunday, three police officers testified that while Mathew claimed that he didn’t intend to kill her during the dispute, crime scene evidence suggested that he did, showing that he followed her to her room and struck her with a hammer. Additionally, a police captain testified that the deadly altercation followed several weeks of arguments in the Mathew home over the couple moving to a smaller, less expensive flat.

The court has been adjourned until December 17, when the prosecution will present its remaining witnesses. Dubai prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

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