Accused put pressure on wife

Glyn Razzell denies murder

A man accused of killing his estranged wife has admitted piling emotional and financial pressure on her before she went missing.

Glyn Razzell, 44, of Barn Close, Crewkerne, Somerset, denies killing Linda Razzell, 41, who disappeared on her way to work at Swindon College, Wiltshire, in 2002.

On Thursday he admitted to a jury at Bristol Crown Court that he had used psychological tactics on his wife so she would agree to a divorce settlement which was allegedly more favourable to him.

He said he had cut her maintenance payments when he was made redundant, and had refused to tell her how much severance pay he was awarded.

The Razzells were married in 1984

But the court heard his plan failed when a judge ordered his bank accounts should be frozen.

The prosecution allege this was when he decided to kill his wife.

Mrs Razzell, a learning support assistant and mother-of-four, was last seen parking her car in Alvescot Road in the town on 19 March last year - her mobile phone was found in a nearby alleyway.

Earlier in the trial, Mr Razzell, an unemployed investment market manager, told the jury he had been for a walk and to a meeting with his solicitors on the day of his wife's disappearance.

The couple were in the middle of divorce proceedings when she vanished - no trace or her or her body has been found.

The trial continues.