A MAN on trial for helping to murder a businessman's wife for £20,000 has accused his alleged accomplice of trying to frame him.
John Height (38) claimed he was duped by Malcolm Anderson so it appeared he played a part in the killing of Anderson's wife Anita.
Mrs Anderson was battered with a saucepan and a hammer before being driven to the River Welland at Crowland, repeate
dly stabbed and dumped in the water.
She was murdered last December after Anderson pledged his future to a 26-year-old work colleague at Norfolkline in Whittlesey.
Anderson (54), of The Mill, Kirton, Lincolnshire, has admitted murdering his 52-year-old wife, but Height, of Driffield Way, Woodston, Peterborough, denies the charge
Yesterday Height claimed he was involved only in disposing of the victim's body – and insisted Anderson tricked him into taking part.
He told Nottingham Crown Court Anderson set out to frame him by placing Mrs Anderson unconscious in the back of the van without his knowledge.
Height said Anderson had asked to meet him late at night but did not say why, adding: "I thought he just wanted to move some stuff."
Paul Mann QC, prosecuting, suggested Anderson believed his wife was dead when he put her in the van and intended Height to dispose of the body.
Height then called Anderson to come and "finish her off" after she unexpectedly regained consciousness in the back of the vehicle, said Mr Mann.
But Height denied the allegation and told the jury he would have contacted the authorities straight away if he had known what was going on.
The trial continues.
The full article contains 278 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
