Man sentenced for family murders

Claire and Kim Umali were stabbed to death with a kitchen knife

A man who murdered his sister-in-law and her teenage son with a kitchen knife has been jailed for life.

Orlando Santos, 42, killed 39-year-old Claire Umali and her son Kim, 13, at their home in Chester last December.

Santos admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but has always denied murder.

He was found guilty of two counts of murder at Chester Crown Court and ordered to serve a minimum of 24 years in prison.

The two families lived together at Dorset Road

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Forbes said Mrs Umali and her son were the "wholly innocent victims of misplaced rage".

He added: "No words of mine can describe adequately the tragedy caused by these crimes of the utmost gravity."

The court heard how Mrs Umali moved to the UK from the Philippines in 2000, with her husband, Virgie, 42, a former accountant.

Mrs Umali's sister, Neila, and her husband, Orlando Santos, joined them from Philippines in August 2004 and the two families lived together.

Santos suffered from depression and did not socialise with the rest of the family, the court heard.

On the morning of the murder, he launched at Mrs Umali in a frenzied attack as she was getting ready to go out shopping.

He plunged the knife into her back before stabbing her a further three times through her heart and lungs.

When her son Kim ran out to try to stop the attack, he was stabbed six times before staggering outside the house crying for help.

Santos eventually walked into the street carrying the knife, which he dropped on the pavement.

He was recommended for deportation at the end of his sentence.