Husband guilty of roof box murder

Andre Genestin carried on life as normal after killing his wife

A man has been found guilty of murdering his wife and hiding her body in a car roof top box.

A jury at Lewes Crown Court took less than two hours to convict Andre Genestin, 48, of Maresfield Road, Brighton of murder.

Genestin used a mallet to crush the skull of 38-year-old Catherine as she sat on their lounge sofa, then hid her body in a roof box in their garden.

Mrs Genestin's decomposed remains were found by police officers in June 2007.

In the weeks after the murder, which happened some time between 11 and 14 May 2007, French national Genestin carried on life as normal.

Judge Anthony Scott Gall, sitting at Lewes Crown Court, said unemployed Genestin had been convicted on the "most compelling evidence".

Affair confrontation

During the two-week trial, jurors heard it was only after the couple's young daughter repeatedly raised her concerns about her mother's disappearance with her teachers that social services and the police investigated.

Examination of Genestin's computer after he was arrested showed he had been composing a letter to the British consulate in Kiev stating he would be sponsoring a woman called Tatyana to come to the UK.

A daughter has been left without a mother; she has also been left without a father following his conviction today for murder Det Ch Insp Adam Hibbert Flies were clues to wife's fate

Police officers drawn to a strong smell from the car roof box in the back garden of the couple's home found the decomposed remains of Russian-born Mrs Genestin.

The court heard that Mrs Genestin had confronted her husband about his affair with Tatyana and he had urged her to consider allowing his mistress to move in with them.

Genestin could have killed his wife because she would have been in a position to blackmail him if they were to separate because of what she knew about his dubious business dealings, prosecutors said.

Genestin had denied murder but admitted manslaughter by reason of provocation.

In evidence, he said there was "only so much hysteria a man can take".

He said: "I have to protect my daughter and myself. I have a high threshold in coping with emotional pressure. I think your average man would have cracked before I did."

Genestin said he did not call police after he killed his wife because "I wanted to save my own skin".

Andre Genestin initially concealed Catherine's body in the house

The judge said he faced a sentence of life imprisonment but the minimum term had yet to be determined.

Following the verdict Det Ch Insp Adam Hibbert, of Sussex Police, said: "A daughter has been left without a mother; she has also been left without a father following his conviction today for murder.

"My heartfelt sympathies go out to that young girl and Catherine's family and friends."

He added: "The very real tragedy is Andre Genestin initially concealed Catherine's body within the house and subsequently in the car roof box in the garden whilst their young daughter was wondering all the while if her mother had left home or had come to some harm.

"By his own admission, Andre Genestin is a self-confessed liar who has deceived everyone he has come into contact with, including his own daughter."