A man who murdered his wife with a hammer and hid her body in a chest freezer while telling family and friends she was ill in hospital has been jailed for life.
David Barraclough, 46, killed Carolann Barraclough, a mother of three, at the family’s house in Horbury, near Wakefield, in February.
Leeds Crown Court heard he then spent about two weeks trying to conceal what he had done, telling relatives and friends she was in hospital and sending messages from her phone pretending to be her.
Barraclough pleaded guilty to murder on the first day of his trial and refused to attend court for sentencing. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 22 years and one month.
The court heard Carolann Barraclough was killed sometime between 19 and 21 February.
After her death, Barraclough tied up her body and placed it in a freezer in the utility room of the home they shared.