PHILIP Tarver, 47, has been convicted of at the Old Bailey of murdering Angela Tarver at the family home in Woking, Surrey, before storing her head in the freezer
Philip Tarver, 47, has been convicted of at the Old Bailey of murdering Angela Tarver at the family home in Woking Surrey.
During the trial Colin Tarver described how his son had acted strangely, having drank a carton of beer and a bottle of vodka the night before.
In the morning, the defendant emerged wearing “female attire”, jurors heard.
Mr Tarver said: “He was wearing a short transparent petticoat type of thing. He would occasionally wear female clothing.
“He started speaking in whisper. He was whispering about the beer. He pointed to the carton, asked me to take it back to the shop.
Mr Tarver told jurors his behaviour was “entirely unusual” as he had never said anything like it before.
His son went on to unplug household devices saying he was “spring cleaning” before going upstairs with a headache, jurors heard.
At noon, Mrs Tarver was sitting in the kitchen drinking a mug of tea and Mr Tarver was in the lounge reconnecting the television so they could watch Bargain Hunt.
When he heard a scream, Mr Tarver said.
“I stopped what I was doing, crossed the lounge to the dining room, could see the kitchen, see the chair Angela was sitting on was gone and all I could see was her legs resting on the chair,” he told the court.
“The chair had gone backwards. She was on her back.”
When he got to the kitchen door, he noticed the defendant holding a sword.
He said: “He looked strange, demented. His eyes were a yellow colour. He said ‘I’ve got to kill you.’
“He did not look normal. I thought he was going to kill me.”
When he asked him why, Tarver allegedly said he had been “commanded” to.
The witness went on: “It just didn’t make any sense.
“I grabbed hold of the blade. It was only a replica sword, it was not sharp, so I grabbed hold of it with both hands, wrestled with him for several minutes until I got hold of the sword.”
Mr Tarver then ran down to the end of his driveway and dialled 999.
Before police arrived, the defendant allegedly decapitated Mrs Tarver and put her head in the kitchen freezer.
He also cut off her left ring finger and put it into a kettle, the Old Bailey was told.
When armed police arrived, Tarver came to the front door waving a Union flag and holding a knife, saying: “I surrender, I surrender”.
Mr Tarver married Angela in 1960 and Philip was the youngest of their three children.
In 1991, Mrs Tarver suffered a severe stroke which affected her mobility and speech, he said.
– mirror.co.uk
