'Money-obsessed' husband stabbed his estranged disability rights campaigner wife to death after she refused to sign his plans to divide £1m family fortune, court hears

A money-obsessed husband stabbed his estranged wife to death after she refused to sign up to his plans to divide their £1million fortune, a court heard today.

Ray Hoadley, 62, is accused of murdering 58-year-old Jackie Hoadley at their family home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, last summer.

Ms Hoadley was discovered with seven stab wounds to her face and had suffered strangulation and blunt force trauma to her face and chest.

She was found lying in her blood-soaked bed on July 5 and later pronounced dead by paramedics. 

The couple had been married 28 years and have two severely disabled adopted children - Matthew, 16, and Ellie, nine - who require constant care. 

But prosecutors today told a jury that the relationship had broken down and pointed to a row over money as Hoadley's motivation for killing his estranged wife.

Ray Hoadley, 62, is accused of murdering 58-year-old Jackie Hoadley at their family home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, last summer (couple pictured with severely disabled adopted children - Matthew, 16, and Ellie, nine)

The trial at Lewes Crown Court in Hove opened with the prosecution describing the horrific nature of her death.  

Ms Hoadley was found dead in bed at 2pm by carer Elizabeth Morley who looked after Ellie.

Mrs Morley went upstairs and heard the alarm from Ellie's untended feeding pump before seeing Jackie's blood-soaked bed through her opened door.

Paramedics pronounced her dead at 2.20pm, with a severed artery and jugular vein named as the cause of death

Prosecuting Caroline Carberry QC said: 'She had suffered catastrophic injuries.'

She added: 'It is the prosecution's case that she was murdered by her estranged husband, this defendant, Raymond Hoadley.'  

Ellie's carer Elizabeth Morley was the first to give evidence.

Hoadley arriving at Lewes Crown Court this week to stand trial for the murder of estranged wife Jackie Hoadley

In a desperate call to police played to the court, carer Mrs Morley can be heard saying: 'There's blood everywhere,' while crying hysterically.

She told the court: 'I could see someone on the bed that I didn't want to believe was Jackie but obviously was.

'I knew I needed to check Ellie first even though I could hear her. She was shouting and raising her arms for me to pick her up out of her bed. She just wanted attention and to be out of that environment.

'She kept shouting for me while I was on the phone. I said I'm going to get mummy help. You need to stay put.'

Mrs Morley added: 'I just didn't want to go in the room. But I had to.'

Police Constable Leon Franco, of Sussex Police, was the first officer to attend the serious incident with colleague PC Wilkinson.

The court was shown footage from his body-worn camera which depicted the pair walking up the stairs, entering Jackie's bedroom and lifting the bloodstained pillows from above her head before checking for a pulse.

Mr Franco said: 'I could see there was a lot of blood. I believe there was rigor mortis present.'

Mrs Morley later took Ellie to the Royal Alexander Hospital in Brighton to be checked over but thankfully she was unharmed.

When asked how she would describe the adoptive parents' relationship, Mrs Morley said: 'Very strong.'

And she said Hoadley had an 'exceptional relationship' with both children which included a special way of communicating with Ellie.

Mrs Morley, who cared for Ellie for more than six years after meeting the Hoadleys through church, told jurors their adopted daughter was legally blind and required mobility aids.

She said of her one to one caring role: 'It wasn't like going to work. It was just like going to a relatives house and spending time with them. I could work three or four months without taking any time off ... it worked for all of us.'

Ms Hoadley was found dead at the family home in Eastbourne, East Sussex, in July

Mrs Morley said the Hoadley's previously fostered son Liam died aged 13 despite only being expected to live for five years.

She recalled Hoadley being upset in the kitchen after being told Matthew was now at the end of his life expectancy too.

The carer was so close to the family that she was asked to be witness and sign the financial agreement between the couple on June 21. 

The couple adopted Matthew in 2007 and Ellie in 2014, who both had complex care needs requiring 24 hour around the clock supervision.

They had previously fostered a disabled boy in 2002, when Ms Hoadley discovered she could not have children of her own, but he died in 2008.  

Hoadley moved out of the family home following a spell in a psychiatric hospital in Chichester, West Sussex, after an attempted overdose of Matthew's strong painkiller Oromorph in April.

Upon his discharge in May, he moved into a multi-occupancy house in Eastbourne and the court heard that the marriage was effectively over. 

Ms Carberry said: 'The marriage which had been under some strain had irreversibly broken down and the couple were in the process of arranging their assets.'

She said Hoadley, described as a 'frugal person' who was 'preoccupied with money and not wasting food', drafted a contract to split their assets 'a very short time before his wife's death'.

The court heard Hoadley agreed Ms Hoadley could keep their £300,000 home and had drawn up the plan to split their almost £1million in savings stored in trusts and various bank accounts.

Ms Carberry said: 'Ray had drawn up a financial agreement but Jackie had refused to sign it which made him lose his temper over the phone.

'This indicates his very real interests in the substantial financial affairs of the couple.

'You may find that money had something to with the motivation behind this killing.'

The court heard that Ms Hoadley told Mrs Morley she and Ellie had met Hoadley for breakfast at a local cafe on the morning of Saturday July 4, 2020.

She then visited Matthew at Chailey Heritage Foundation, where he is cared for, at 3pm before returning home at 5.30pm.

Dashcam images showed jurors Hoadley's distinctive silver Renault Master MPV van - the only of its kind registered in the area - parked near the marital home just after 11.20pm later that evening.

CCTV from a neighbouring property shows a figure near the home at around 11.30pm and leaving again shortly before 1.30am.

Ms Carberry said: 'It is the prosecution's case that during that that two-hour window this defendant killed his wife, returned to his vehicle and drove off.'

Cameras captured the van parking up at the Fisherman's Green car park in the coastal town eight minutes later.

A figure is seen to get out and jog towards the beach before driving off again.

Ms Carberry told the court that a month later, a yellow pair of scissors was found buried among the pebbles by fisherman Mr McCormack who handed the alleged murder weapon in to the police.

Back at the family home, forensics teams found blood on the bedroom door, the sink, a towel and the staircase.

She said Police Constable Arthur noticed slats in the back garden fence were missing and the wheelie bin which the prosecution claim Hoadley may have used to gain entry through an open window had a footprint on its lid.

A drop of blood was also found on the sole of his black and red Karrimor trainers when police searched his room, according to the prosecution.

The jury was told Hannah Harris, who lived in the multi-occupancy property with Hoadley, found grey socks, black jumper, joggers and a handkerchief in the communal washer and dryer at about 7am on the morning Jackie was found dead.

Ms Carberry said: 'He was washing the clothes he had worn during the course of his fatal assault on his wife but his attempts to cover up didn't end there.'

She also told the court Hoadley called his dead wife's mobile phone six times the next morning and left three messages before ringing emergency social services to say Ms Hoadley and Eleanor hadn't turned up to a meeting in the town centre.

The trial continues.