Fifty+ Femicides

Every Friday I write about women in mid or later life who have been killed by a man they are personally connected to, after their 50th birthday.

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In August 2014, 9 women women were killed where the suspect was a man.

4 of those women were killed after their 50th birthday.

All 4 women were killed by their husband.

Carol Bland 62

Carol was found dead with multiple stab wounds by police after a friend had called them. Her husband was found with serious knife wounds to his neck and was charged with her murder. He was cleared of murder but admitted to manslaughter and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.

They were married for 44 years.

Media reports were sympathetic to her killer, we don't know Carol's story, she is dead.

Elizabeth Knot 72

Elizabeth was shot dead by her husband who also shot himself and died. Elizabeth had Alzheimer's and family and friends are said to believe this was a result of carer stress and fears of care home fees.

We don't know their story, Elizabeth hadn't been seen in public 18 months prior to her death.

Sandra Talman 62

Sandra was found dead at her home. A post mortem discovered she had been killed through compression to the neck.

Mrs Talman's family described her as "a loving and kind daughter, sister, aunt, mother and grandmother".

In a statement, the family said: "Sandra's sons Stephen, Nicky and Sam are devastated at the tragic loss of their mother.

"Sandra was always happy and joyful. The loss of Sandra has left a massive hole in all of our hearts."

Her husband was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 6 years in prison.

Elaine Flanagan 57

Elaine was found buried in her garden, weeks after being killed by her husband.

He admitted to murder and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

I intentionally do not use the killers names.

Many of the media reports are sympathetic to the killers, we know very little about the women killed. Who they were, what they loved to do, their careers, their hobbies. Most references are in relation to their roles as wives, mothers or grandmothers.

Theses killings took place a decade ago, has much changed?

*edited thank you Wendy Bulman for spotting a typo