Former nurse to challenge conviction for murder of her disabled husband
A nurse found guilty of murdering her disabled husband by injecting him with insulin is set for a new fight to clear her name.
Deborah Winzar, 54, was jailed for life at Birmingham Crown Court in 2000 after being convicted of the murder of 34-year-old Dominic McCarthy.
But her case has been referred to the Court of Appeal by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates possible miscarriages of justice.
Her lawyers are due to present evidence from medical experts, which indicates Mr McCarthy may have died from sepsis, at a hearing on Monday.
Mr McCarthy, who was paralysed in a motorcycle accident in 1984, was found collapsed in his bed at the couple’s home in Stonely, Cambridgeshire, on January 31 1997.
He lapsed into a coma and died in Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon on February 9.
Tests revealed Mr McCarthy had had a very high insulin level and the prosecution case was that his wife had the opportunity to administer it, and the skills to inject it.
Winzar (pictured) denied any wrongdoing and maintained he must have died of natural causes, but was found guilty by a jury of murder.
A previous challenge to her conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal in December 2002 and she applied to the CCRC in June 2005.
The CCRC previously said it considers that the new evidence “gives rise to a real possibility” that her conviction will be quashed.
Winzar, who has been released from prison, is due to have her appeal heard by three senior judges.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2019, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) David Jones / PA Wire.
