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Millionaire HSBC banker Neil Ellerbeck guilty of killing unfaithful wife
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent13 Oct 2009
A millionaire City banker who killed his unfaithful wife during a violent row was today found guilty of manslaughter.
Neil Ellerbeck, 46, attacked wife Kate during a struggle at the couple's £600,000 home in Enfield, north London, in November last year.
He showed little emotion as an Old Bailey jury cleared him of murder and convicted him instead of manslaughter on the grounds of lack of intent.
The court heard Ellerbeck had secretly been bugging more than 100 hours of her phone calls.
He was remanded in custody for sentence tomorrow.
Ellerbeck, chief investment banker at HSBC in Canary Wharf, discovered his wife had been involved in a passionate sexual relationship with tennis coach Patrick McAdam and also suspected affairs with two other men.
Prosecutors alleged that he strangled her after her indiscretions had become "all too much" for him.
But he told the court that he had given her a "decent shove" and pinned her down as she tried to attack him, and struck her after she bit his thumb.
He said that when he left the house after the row she was still alive, though panting and with blood on her lip, and when he returned she was lying at the foot of the stairs.
Ellerbeck called 999 and tried to revive her but it was too late.
At the time he killed his wife, the banker was working long hours as the City bore the brunt of the credit crunch and was drinking two bottles of wine a night.
Though he had a mistress himself he was said to have become "obsessive" about his wife's activities.
Realising he faced the end of the 14-year marriage, he feared the loss of his children and half of his £1 million fortune, and squirreled away more than £500,000 in secret accounts, the court heard.
Edward Brown QC, prosecuting, said: "The defendant is an ambitious and successful man. He had made a lot of money. His children were doing well. But he was a man with an obsessive and jealous nature.
"It is with this background, with all the heightened suspicions and jealousies, that the defendant killed his wife, her death very likely the culmination of a violent argument."
Ellerbeck, wearing a grey tie and grey suit, clenched his jaw and looked straight ahead as the verdicts were returned after a day's deliberation by the jury.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mrs Ellerbeck's sister, Susan Reed, described the "terrible loss" caused by her death.
She said her sister was "lovely, kind, funny, gentle, thoughtful, generous, protective of those she loved, lovely, outwardly cheerful, friendly, and a good loyal friend who people could trust to keep their confidences safe".
Mrs Reed added: "She was a wonderful and devoted mother to her children, who were everything to her.
"She has done nothing to be ashamed of. She should have had a future watching her children grow."
The row which led to Mrs Ellerbeck's death was the culmination of years of increasing jealousies and suspicions.
She suspected her husband of placing a tracking device in her car as he seemed to know every time she went to Tesco.
The court heard he had bought hi-tech gadgets to spy on her mobile calls and text messages and secretly placed a voice-activated Dictaphone near the home phone on which he made more than 127 hours of recordings.
In one bugged conversation, Mrs Ellerbeck breathlessly relived a previous sexual encounter with Mr McAdam in explicit terms, describing it as "amazing" and telling him: "Nobody has ever done that to me before."
The 46-year-old housewife had also been "intimate" with childhood sweetheart Martin Perry and exchanged flirtatious text messages with an Italian chef who worked at the Ritz, Giuliano Vilardo.
Ellerbeck's bugging showed she had consulted solicitors and was considering divorce, the Old Bailey heard.
She sought release from her unhappiness at the local David Lloyd fitness centre, where her children were being trained by Mr McAdam, and where she would visit five to six times a week to work out.
Jurors heard that a day before her death she bumped into both Mr McAdam and Mr Perry - who said she did not seem her "bubbly and chirpy" self.
The court heard that on November 14 last year, the Ellerbecks dropped off their daughter for a school entrance exam before getting into a row about her schooling on the way home, and later the topic turned to divorce.
Ellerbeck said after offering her a cup of tea, his wife attacked him and a violent argument ensued as he tried to stop her.
After the row he went to pick up their daughter from her exam and dropped her off at her own school, telling her her mother had gone shopping.
He exchanged texts with his mistress, Julie Ring, and bought a lottery ticket, then returned home to find his wife lying in the hall way, he said.
Reader views (7)
I sat through some of the trial and so can see some of the comments made here not reflecting the context of things. Yes, Kate Ellerbeck is dead, and yes there is no doubt in my mind that he did kill her. I don't think she married him for money.. how they met all came out in court.. she had no idea of how much he earned or what he was worth. Money wasn't the issue... it was all about two people who no longer loved each other, but had children. It's those children that will really suffer in all of this and they should be rememberd..
- Tish, Reading, 14/10/2009 15:09
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These crimes of jealous rage are utterly stupid. What is more insane is this murderous lunatic had a mistress himself and hidden accounts... how sad his children must live with this memory for the rest of their lives.
- Dalovely, USA, 13/10/2009 21:30
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So, now he's in jug he gets to hold on to the cash he was worried she'd get if he didn't kill her. Mission accomplished? When he gets out he gets access to his cash and just gets on with his life. I like British "justice": its cool.
- Geek Freak, Paris, Texas, 13/10/2009 20:28
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What a terrible tragedy. Despite her glowing tribute from her sister, perhaps her conduct did have an effect upon her husband?
- Manny Goldstein, London, England, 13/10/2009 18:12
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You've got issues Zak. The man killed his wife and you're blaming her? Right.
- Ellie, London, 13/10/2009 17:39
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How do you know she married him for his money? they had been married 14 years - it's far more likely that she helepd him to make it!
What's appalling to me about this is that whilst the wife seems to be condemned for having a lover, the husband seems to have got away with it. Manslaughter? I'd call it murder.
- Liz, London,UK, 13/10/2009 17:38
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He should have realised that his wife wanted to marry him because of his money. Some people are just too blind to realize that. What a pitty.
- Zak, London, 13/10/2009 16:50
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