An angry Devon schoolboy wrote to his mother's killer to tell him he had ruined his life.
A court heard ten year old Olly Power sent the letter to David Wilder who throttled the boy's mother to death as he slept in their house just before last Christmas.
Part of his letter was read to a court by his grandmother Stephanie in which he said:"I feel very angry. If I was you I would ashamed. I have a sad miserable life. You have ruined my life and my family's life. It was nearly Christmas and we were happy."
Today (Friday) tearful bus driver Wilder admitted murdering 36 year old Kerry Power at her home in Plymouth, and was jailed for life.
Judge Graham Cottle said Olly heard the life being strangled from his mother but 'mercifully did not come downstairs to witness the act itself or the immediate aftermath'.
He added:"It is entirely likely that he will be haunted by his memories of that night for a very long time if not forever."
He said the murder was 'dreadful act' and when Olly did see his mother under a duvet he did 'not realise she was dead'.
Jailing him for a minimum for 17.5 years, he said Wilder was a man 'who liked to dominate and control women'.
In the days before the killing, he bombarded her with texts and phone calls, stalked her and turned up drunk at her house and was prepared to use violence when his demands for a reconciliation were rejected.
The judge said Kerry dialled 999 at 1.10am as she was attacked. It was almost a silent call but police could later hear her say:"You have to leave. I don't know how you got in here but I need you to leave, you have to leave.
He then strangled her as Olly heard noises which the judge said were his mother 'struggling for life'.
And he said no one could failed to have been moved by the boy's letter to Wilder about 'how he feels about the terrible loss of his mother'.
Taunton Crown Court heard that Olly was disturbed in the middle of the night when he heard his mother making 'strange noises' like she was being sick and Wilder making 'muttering noises'.
Early that morning Olly got up and found his mum – now dead – lying under a duvet in the front room of the house with Wilder lying next to her.
The court heard he strangled the primary school assistant to death in December 2013 – four years after he had nearly killed his ex wife Kelly in a carbon copy attack.
The judge was told Wilder, 42, was given two police cautions for a series of domestic abuse incidents against his former wife, including one when he tried to throttle her too.
Wilder's own barrister Michael Fitton QC described him as 'possessive'.
He told the court:"He could not and would not let go."
The controlling defendant harassed dark haired Kerry after she told him their two year romance was over.
Police were called to her house twice in the days leading up to her murder. And officers told her to call them if Wilder turned up again.
Kerry had told friends and family that she had been subjected to 'emotional abuse' but not physical attacks at his hands.
The court heard in 2005 he threw a beaker at his ex wife and then bent her legs so that her right hip came out pof her socket. He was given just a police caution.
But in 2009 he broke into his ex's home through a window and climbed on top of her as she lay in bed.
Prosecutor Richard Smith QC said:"He had both hands around her neck in a strangling motion."
He put his hand over her mouth and said chillingly:"I am going to kill you."
He then grabbed her throat and she lost consciousness.
Mr Smith said there were 'striking similarities' between the 2009 attack and Kerry's murder. But in 2009 'no further action as a result of his conduct' was taken.
The court heard Wilder was a man who intimidated and dominated and lost self control.
He bombarded Kerry with texts and social networking messages which she admitted left her feeling 'a little bit scared'.
But late night knocks at her door by Wilder was, she said, the 'final straw'.
She told him:"It's over."
She called his actions 'emotional blackmail' and could not believe he had 'stooped so low' and he had 'scared the living daylights out of me'.
She said shortly before her death:"He is behaving like a madman."
Kerry's mum Stephanie Power said she had lost Kerry, her husband and her mother within months of each other and blamed the stress of the murder for losing her husband of 42 years.
The 65 year old said:"It has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions."
She said she would never know why Wilder had done it but said she and Olly had had to 'endure so much grief'.
