A 68-year-old man has been jailed for life for murdering his ex-wife at their late son's graveside, stabbing her 19 times with scissors she had brought to cut flowers. Martin Suter received a minimum term of 27 years and 109 days at Portsmouth Crown Court for the "wicked" killing of Ann Blackwood, 71, in Hampshire last July.
The attack occurred on what would have been their son Christopher's 36th birthday. Suter had waited five hours at Crofton Cemetery in Stubbington, armed with a kitchen knife, knowing his ex-wife would visit the grave on July 24, 2023.
Prosecutor Robert O'Sullivan KC told the court Suter carried out a premeditated attack. «The defendant armed himself with a large kitchen knife from his home address and he took it with him to the cemetery that morning while he laid in wait to attack Ann Blackwood, rightly anticipating she would visit her son's grave that day,» he said.
When Blackwood arrived by bicycle around 3:30 pm, Suter stabbed her in the back. After the knife blade broke off, he repeatedly stabbed her in the neck and shoulder with the scissors she had brought for the flowers. He then called 999 at 3:39 pm, telling the operator: «I have just murdered someone, I have just killed my ex-wife, I have just stabbed her to death.»
Judge condemns "act of wickedness"
Judge Michael Bowes KC described the killing as brutal and premeditated. «You brutally murdered Ann Blackwood in the most cruel and agonising way you could by stabbing her to death on her son's grave, and this is rightly characterised by her family and friends as an act of wickedness,» he said during sentencing.
The judge noted that no sentence could compensate the victim's family for their loss. He emphasized that while Christopher's death in 2003 was tragic, it «cannot reduce in any way your culpability for the murder of his mother.»
O'Sullivan told the court Suter showed no genuine remorse and still contested committing murder. During his confession calls, Suter blamed Blackwood for their son's death and said his life had been "ruined by the deceased." He told worried bystanders who offered assistance: «It's been 40 years, I couldn't take it any more.»
Family describes devastating loss
Ann Blackwood's brother John expressed the family's incomprehension in a victim impact statement. «The fact that such wickedness can exist and be perpetrated by one human being on another is alien to us and totally beyond our comprehension,» he said.
He described his sister as «an affable, inoffensive person, easy-going, gregarious, with many friends.» In a statement through Hampshire Constabulary, Blackwood's family called her «a loving, caring, kind-hearted mother and friend who was very popular in her local community, she was enjoying her retirement with an active lifestyle which included tennis, sailing, cycling and music.»
The couple's son Christopher died in 2003, with a coroner ruling his death accidental. Suter and Blackwood divorced in 2004. The sailor, who had been diagnosed with autism and depression, also received an additional 121 days for a separate indecent assault conviction from May 2023.
Suter's defense counsel Jodie Mittell KC suggested «it may be difficult for someone with the autism diagnoses to demonstrate or for remorse to be assessed.» Suter showed no emotion during his sentencing.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
