A businessman strangled his wife to death so he could claim her life insurance and pay off spiralling debts. Robert Hammond, known as James, murdered Sian Hammond at their home in Primes Corner, Histon, near Cambridge, on 29 October last year.
However, last Wednesday (17 July), at Cambridge Crown Court, a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict on a charge of murder.
Hammond was sentenced today at the same court to life in prison with a minimum term of 24 years.
The court heard Hammond had growing debts of more than £300,000 and had spent months lying and creating excuses to delay payments to HMRC and a financial company.
The life cover was worth £450,000 and after his wife’s death he told one company he would be able to pay off the debt.
Hammond, 47, called police at 2am the day after murdering Sian, 46, claiming he had found her not breathing and always denied any wrongdoing.
Detective Inspector Richard Stott, from the Beds, Cambs and Herts Major Crime Unit, said it was an unusual case because suspicions were not raised until a coroner’s postmortem examination on 3 November, which identified concerning injuries.
A forensic post-mortem a week later concluded the cause of death was compression of the neck.
DI Stott said: “The pathology played a key part in this investigation, and this started to show how Mr Hammond had lied about how his wife had died.
“Once the investigation progressed it showed Hammond to be a competent liar and the large debts and financial pressures, he was under became clear. His greed and fear of losing his public standing led to him murdering his wife to benefit from her life insurance and to continue to hide his debt and lies.
“Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Sian; she was a loved and well-liked person and an active and successful businesswoman.”
Sian’s family previously released this statement: “Everyone that knew her would agree Sian was one of the friendliest people you could have the pleasure of meeting, and she will be sorely missed by many.”
The court heard that on the day of the murder, Hammond and Sian had spent the day together shopping and using their home gym.
Their home CCTV showed that no other person had entered or left the house that night and there was no suggestion of third party involved.
Hammond was arrested for murder on 10 November but maintained he had not harmed her.
Police discovered he had been putting off paying debts by making claims he had cancer and was getting a divorce. The jury heard Hammond admit to being a “good liar” and that his claims had worked to delay his repayments.
Just days before Sian was murdered, Hammond called her life insurance company and made a payment to reinstate the policy.
Despite his denials and the CCTV evidence, a forensic pathologist gave evidence that the cause of death was compression of the neck and explained how the injuries to Sian were consistent with a struggle.
