Man jailed for 23 years after hiding in ex-wife’s house to kill her as their child slept in the other room

A 46-year-old man Aubrey Pule Padi was on Tuesday October 5, jailed for a minimum of 23 years after hiding in ex-wife, Tamara Padi’s home before brutally murdering her as their child slept in the next room. 

Manchester Crown Court heard how Padi waited for Tamara to return home on July 7, even setting an alarm on his phone so he could sleep before launching the horrifying attack.

Tamara who worked as a carer, was killed shortly after she arrived home at her Stalybridge home with a colleague after a late-night care visit on July 7. 

Padi armed himself with a hammer, knives, gloves and a length of cord, and carried out the act after his alarm went off at 3.30am.  He reportedly stabbed his ex-wife eight times with one of the kitchen knives he brought with him.

Prosecutor Richard Pratt said that the attack took place in two rooms in the home as she fought to protect herself.

Pratt said; 

“He effectively lay in wait for his wife to return. 

“He must have realised that his daughter was in the house also.

“The defendant left the room believing her dead but returned when he heard a noise and stabbed her some eight times. There were numerous, defensive-type injuries.”

Padi and Tamara separated earlier this year after 14 years of marriage with divorce proceedings “imminent”. The day before she was murdered, Mr Pratt said Padi had punched the mum-of-two in the face when she wouldn’t let him use her phone in her car.

Later that night, he sent her “threatening text messages” with one ending “this is the last time you had disrespected me”. Two weeks prior, she had found him looking through her voicemails on her mobile.

Padi reportedly ran away from the home and when he called 999, he confessed to the crime and told an ambulance operator that he was going to kill himself.

He said; 

“I am sorry for what I have done, but she deserved it.”

Tamara was pronounced dead after she was rushed to a nearby hospital while her colleague was found by police seriously injured. The court heard how her daughter had “mercifully” slept through the horror.

While being sentenced by the Judge Elizabeth Nicholls, Padi who pleaded guilty to one count of murder sobbed and looked away from his children.

On the murder, Judge Nicholls said; 

“In that moment the defendant effectively deprived their children of both parents, one through death, the other by the annihilation of trust in their father, who up until that moment they believed they knew and loved.

“You waited in the house for your wife to return from a late-night care visit, knowing that your daughter slept in the adjoining bedroom.

“So clear and considered were your intentions, you even set your phone alarm giving yourself a chance to sleep and ensuring that your wife would be asleep before you attacked her.

“Beyond any of your friend’s and family’s comprehension.

 “Some suggest that you must have suffered a breakdown, however no medical evidence, nor any evidence has been presented to suggest that mental health issues had any part to play in this offence.

“You may have been stressed and distressed by your work and or divorce, but neither explain the brutality displayed.”