British expat hid wife's body

A British expatriate living in Australia has been found guilty of killing his wife more than 20 years ago.

A jury at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne found Frederick Boyle, 58, guilty of murdering his wife Ruth in 1983 and hiding her body in a 44-gallon drum on their property.

Her remains were found by his son-in-law during a clean-up of the family home in October 2006.

Boyle, of Carrum Downs, in Melbourne's south east, denied the charge of murder, claiming he panicked when found he his wife dead in bed.

He told his children that their mother had run off with another man.

Boyle and his wife emigrated to Australia from the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales in 1972.

During cross-examination, Boyle said he did not report his wife's death for fear he would be charged with her murder because he was having an affair with another woman.

He told the court that he made up a story about his wife leaving him for a truck driver and hid her body in a drum.

After the verdict the Boyles' daughters Careesa, 35, and her sister Sharon, 32, left without commenting.

Mrs Boyle's sister, Valerie Bordley, from Watford, had reported her sister missing in 1994.

She had travelled to Australia from the UK four times to investigate the case, and was there for the week-long trial.

Ms Boyle said the worst thing for her was hearing how and where her sister's body was found.

She said: "I just can't get that out of my head. Justice has now been done - I just feel so sorry for my nieces.

"They have lived their lives all these years thinking their mother had deserted them and now with this verdict, it is probably going to devastate them - I have extremely mixed emotions."

Boyle was remanded in custody for sentencing in the next two weeks.

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