Hitman faces life sentence for 'perfect murder' - Crime, UK - The Independent

Quote:

A swimming world record holder who became a hitman after blowing a fortune on a flamboyant lifestyle in Thailand faces life in jail when he is sentenced today. Paul Cryne flew back to Britain to commit the "perfect murder" for a £30,000 fee to pay off his debts but now faces the prospect of dying in prison. The 62-year-old, who still holds a Guinness underwater swimming record, was caught because of a crime he committed more than three decades earlier. Cryne left few clues for detectives when he carried out the "execution" of frail 52-year-old Sharon Birchwood in December 2007, the Old Bailey heard. Mrs Birchwood was strangled and left "cruelly trussed up" with parcel tape and electrical cord on her bed at her home in Ashtead, Surrey. Cryne - cleared in 2005 of another murder, in Thailand - was hired to kill her by her ex-husband, whom he knew from the country's expatriate community. Graham Birchwood, 54, stood to gain a £475,000 "pot of gold" on her death and went shopping in Epsom to create an alibi for the time of the murder. At first the plan seemed to work as DNA traces found on Mrs Birchwood's hand, and on the roll of tape used to bind her, did not match up to any on the national police database. But the breakthrough came when a sample found on the lip of a cup from Birchwood's mother's house in Banstead - where Cryne stayed in the build-up to the killing - tallied with those at the scene. Also on the cup were fingerprints, matching police records from 1972, when Cryne was jailed for seven years for holding his girlfriend hostage. Detectives were able to trace him to Thailand's expatriate community and take a DNA sample, before extraditing him to face trial. Mark Dennis QC, prosecuting, said: "The police were able to unravel the plot, thereby frustrating the otherwise perfect murder." Birchwood was jailed for life with a minimum term of 32 years in June last year after being convicted of murder at Croydon Crown Court. Cryne is facing a life sentence today after he was found guilty of carrying out the killing by an Old Bailey jury. Judge Jeremy Roberts said: "He may be right in thinking that he'll die in prison." Cryne, a diving expert, was originally from the Manchester area and later lived in Devon. He won a £500,000 payout after he was hit by a boat while diving off the Maldives and moved to Thailand where he began a flamboyant lifestyle including relationships with a string of women. But the money ran out and by 2007 he had debts of £11,000. In 2005 he was cleared of murdering another expatriate, Robert Henry, who was shot six times.

Cool job. Everything I'm qualified for is boring enough to curdle milk. How do you go from diver to hitman?

__________________
Standard disclaimer: the disgusting statements contained in this post are the views of the poster, and unless specified do not represent the views of the moderators or the site's owners.

Originally Posted by Zichao

Cool job. Everything I'm qualified for is boring enough to curdle milk. How do you go from diver to hitman?

You Just Do It. And, then, get arrested - coz, really, you're an amateur...

__________________
Unless otherwise specified, I am posting as a regular poster. When I will act as a mod, I'll make sure you're in no doubt.