Husband guilty of ‘body in drum’ murder

Feb 9 2008 by Katie Norman, South Wales Echo

A CARDIFF-BORN man has been found guilty of murdering his wife and hiding her remains for 23 years.

Fred Boyle, 58, who emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, from Peterston-super-Ely in the Vale of Glamorgan in 1972, was this morning found guilty of killing Edwina on October 6, 1983.

When his wife disappeared, he told his children their 30-year-old mother had run off with another man.

He had, in fact, murdered her and hid her body in a metal drum.

During the week-long trial in Melbourne, Boyle pleaded not guilty to murder.

He claimed he hid his wife’s body because he panicked after finding her dead in bed.

He admitted he feared he would be charged with her murder because he had been having an affair with another woman.

Boyle, a former Cardiff Bus driver, also admitted he had made up the story about his wife leaving him for a truck driver and confessed to hiding her body for 23 years.

His dark secret was uncovered by his son-in-law, who opened the drum and found a Hessian bag and women’s clothing during a clean-up of the family home in October 2006.

Two weeks later he found that same Hessian bag inside a wheelie bin in the garage of the house and discovered Mrs Boyle’s decomposed remains inside.

After a week-long trial, the jury of three women and nine men this morning rejected Frederick William Boyle’s story.

The Boyles’ eldest daughter, Careesa, 35, sobbed into the arms of her partner as her father looked across the court room as the verdict was announced.

Outside court, Mrs Boyle’s sister Valerie Bordley, who lives in Watford, admitted she was beginning to think the case would never be solved.

She had always been suspicious about her sister’s disappearance, even hiring private investigators and consulting clairvoyants to find out what had happened to her.

Mrs Broadley said: “It’s taken a big toll but when you believe in something you just have to keep fighting – I needed to know what happened to my sister.

“I kept on to the police constantly – I’ve been to psychics and everything.”

Justice Jack Forrest remanded Boyle in custody. He will be sentenced in two weeks.

katie.norman@mediawales.co.uk