'You might have got away with murder': Judge says tiny speck of blood convicted killer who stabbed 91-year-old man to death in his own home in West Yorkshire
A judge has said that without a tiny speck of blood painstakingly traced on a killer's shoelaces, he could have got away with murder.
Glyndwr Wayman was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 30 years, after being found guilty of the murder of 90-year-old Nathan Suggitt in his own home on Love Lane Terrace, Pontefract.
The pensioner was stabbed to death by his neighbour and heroin addict Wayman who tried to rob him for drug money.
But Judge Simon Phillips QC told Wayman, who denied murdering Mr Suggitt throughout, that he had shown little remorse or taken any responsibility despite the evidence stacking up against him.
Wayman tried to cover up his crime by pouring bleach over the body of Mr Suggitt after killing him on October 5 last year, and had washed his clothes and trainers to destroy evidence.
He even feigned sympathy as the news of Mr Suggitt's untimely death began to spread through the shocked community by telling neighbours with chilling insincerity that he hoped "it was peaceful and in his sleep".
DNA found on the victim's clothing matched that of Wayman's, but the killer claimed that he had helped Mr Suggitt that morning from falling into the road.
He was caught on CCTV selling Mr Suggitt's items at a pawn shop in Pontefract, where he was seen smiling and joking with staff.
But it was the work of forensic specialists that was ultimately his undoing, and pushed his involvement in Mr Suggitt's death beyond any reasonable doubt.
Judge Phillips told Wayman: "You were arrested within 24 hours of the killing.
"By that time you had been out and concealed or jettisoned Mr Suggitt’s personal possessions that you had stolen. At no stage have you indicated the slightest trace of upset or remorse for what you have done.
"You sought to distance yourself from responsibility and to hoodwink the jury.
"But for the painstaking work of the homicide team investigating the murder, and the fact that a speck of Mr Suggitt’s blood remained detectable on the shoe lace of the trainer that you had washed in the time between the killing and your arrest, you might have got away with it.
"I am satisfied to the criminal standard that this was a murder committed for gain, arming yourself with a knife before approaching the home of the vulnerable victim whom you had targeted, motivated by robbery."