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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This week an article was published by The Guardian Killed Women: 50

I encourage you to read the full article, look at the photographs and really SEE all of these women.

Usually when I write this article I go back a few years so I can record more accurately, if the suspect was convicted, what their sentencing was, and most importantly more information (if published) about the woman, who can't tell her own story.

As these deaths were this year, there will be less I can say. The information is cited directed from this article.

Jenny Sharp died 19 July 2024, aged 80

Found by police in her home, in south-west London, they found her unresponsive and arrested her husband on suspicion of murder. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as “manual compression to the neck”.

Rita Fleming died 23 June 2024, aged 70

Found in her home in Kensington, west London, she was drowned in an overflowing bath, wearing a nightdress.

The cause of death was drowning but she had sustained serious traumatic injuries beforehand.

Her fiancé, was arrested and has since been charged with her murder.

Joanne Ward died 21 June 2024, aged 53

Police officers discovered Joanne's body after responding to reports of a woman seriously injured at a house in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Her partner was arrested and charged with murder shortly afterwards.

Delia Haxworth died 18 June 2024, aged 85

Delia was found “in need of urgent medical treatment” at a property in Bath. She alter died and her husband was charged with her murder.

Patsy Aust died 2 June 2024, aged 81

Patricia “Patsy”, a retired teacher, was found dead in a house. Her older brother was charged with her murder.

Margaret Parker died 21 May 2024, aged 78

Margaret was found dead in Moredun, Edinburgh, after emergency services were called to her home.

A man with the same surname was charged with her murder, and the attempted murder of two other women, aged 42 and 55, during the same incident.

There is an indication that Margaret was related to her (alleged) killer, so I have included her in this article.

Rachel McDaid died 19 April 2024, aged 53

Rachel was found dead at her home in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.

Her estranged husband, later admitted entering his former home and strangling her with a bootlace. He was sentenced to life in prison for murder on 12 July.

Carol Matthews died 22 March 2024, aged 73

Carol, from Stoke-on-Trent, was paraplegic and relied on a wheelchair after being diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome in 2000.

Her husband, called 999 and admitted killing his wife to “put her out of her misery”, even though she did not want to die.

On 9 August 2024, he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 10 years.

Ursula Uhlemann died 20 March 2024, aged 80

Police were called to Ursula Uhlemann's home in Queen’s Park, London.

A man, who is thought to be her partner, was arrested and later charged. A post-mortem examination gave a provisional cause of death as compression to the neck.

Pauline Sweeney died 20 March 2024, aged 50

Pauline was found with stab wounds at a home in Coventry. Emergency services were called but Sweeney died at the scene.

A man, who is thought to have been her partner, was charged with murder.

Christine Bauld died 3 March 2024, aged 55

Christie was found dead at her home, in the village of Burbage in Leicestershire. A man with the same surname, was charged with murder and possession of a bladed article. A trial date has been set for September. He has denied the crime.

I have include Christine as there is an indication she was connected to the (alleged) killer.

Wendy Francis died 2 March 2024, aged 61

Wendy was stabbed to death by her daughter’s partner.

He pleaded guilty to Francis’s murder and the attempted murder of his girlfriend.

Michele Romano died 9 February 2024, aged 68

Michele was found seriously injured by police officers responding to reports from neighbours. Despite the efforts of paramedics, she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her son, was subsequently charged with her murder. His plea hearing at Chelmsford crown court was postponed on grounds of mental health.

Alison McLaughlin died 5 January 2024, aged 53

Alison was found lying next to her dead husband, after neighbours sounded the alarm.

Police are treating her death as murder and her husband's as suicide.

Maya Bracken died 4 January 2024, aged 56

Police were called to reports of an incident and found Bracken stabbed in the chest in a Lexus on the A340 Tidmarsh Road in Berkshire.

About an hour later there were reports of a second death of a young man, believed to be her son. He was found dead on the tracks near Pangbourne station.

15 women. There were 5 more (allegedly) killed after their 50th birthday. Some may have been killed by men they were personally connected to, but the article is clear so I haven't included them.

Please read the full article Killed Women: 50 written by Alexandra Topping, Mabel Banfield-Nwachi, Geneva Abdul and Rachel Hall for more detail.

I intentionally do not use the (alleged) killers names.