Husband's 999 call confessing to stabbing his partner 171 times
‘I think I’ve just killed my wife’: Husband’s chilling 999 call confessing to stabbing his partner 171 times when she ended their marriage just days after shambles holiday to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary
- Mihai Hurmuz-Irimia, 29, ‘calmly’ called the police after murdering his wife
- He killed Katie Hurmuz-Irimia, 40, following an anniversary trip to Bournemouth
This is the moment a husband ‘calmly’ called 999 and told operators ‘I think I’ve just killed my wife’ after stabbing her 171 times when she decided to end their marriage.
Mihai Hurmuz-Irimia, 29, told call handlers he was ‘crazy’ and needed to be ‘locked up’ as he said ‘I stabbed her, all over the place’ on the call from his marital home in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
The killer told the 999 call operator he ‘blacked out’ as he claimed his ‘head’ told him to ‘do something’ before he reassured the handler he would not be a danger to either the police or himself.
A recording of the call has now been released by police as Hurmuz-Irimia was found guilty of murdering his wife despite initially denying murder on the basis of diminished responsibility.
A jury at Oxford Crown Court however found him guilty of murder after hearing he used two blades to inflict wounds on his victim, leaving their home a blood-splatted mess.
Mihai Hurmuz-Irimia, 29, (pictured) ‘calmly’ called the police after murdering his wife
Katie Hurmuz-Irimia, 40, (pictured) just days she accused her husband of ‘ruining’ their holiday to Bournemouth
The court heard he killed Katie Hurmuz-Irimia, 40, just days after she accused him of ruining a trip the couple made to Bournemouth to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.
Hurmuz-Irimia initially denied murder on the basis of diminished responsibility but was found guilty by a jury at Oxford Crown Court.
The court heard Hurmuz-Irimia murdered his wife after she accused him of ‘ruining’ their holiday with his drunken behaviour and that he was ‘fully responsible’ for his crimes.
Immediately following the killing, Hurmuz-Irimia is believed to have showered and watched television before calling 999 and telling the operators – ‘Hello, I think I’ve killed my wife.’
In the 20 minute recording, which was released by police after being played to the jury, he said ‘I stabbed her – all over the place.’
He then tells the operator: ‘I need to be locked up. I’m crazy. My head told me to do something. I done it.’
He later adds: ‘I told you my brain is wrong. There’s a lot of blood in the hallway. Can’t even look at it.’
‘I just like blacked out. Like my head was like ‘boom’.’
READ MORE: Devastated family pay tribute to ‘beautiful’ mother, 40, stabbed to death at £150,000 Oxfordshire home: Man, 28, accused of her murder is remanded in custody
When asked to reassure the handler he won’t be a danger to police or himself when they arrive, he responds: ‘I’m not a danger to anyone.
‘Well, I am obviously to my wife but…’
The trial heard the married couple had just returned from a trip to Bournemouth, Dorset, to their home in Blue Mountains, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, after celebrating their anniversary.
The victim had accused the defendant of ‘ruining’ their holiday with his drunken behaviour and told him their marriage would be ‘well and truly over’ when they got home.
A few days later Hurmuz-Irimia killed his wife in a stabbing frenzy in the early hours of August 30 last year, prosecutors claimed.
The couple, who met 10 years earlier on a night out in Reading, had spent the Bank Holiday weekend before her murder celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary at a hotel in Bournemouth.
But after Mihai, who a couple of years earlier was arrested on suspicion of threatening his wife with weapons, spent the Saturday night getting drunk in the hotel bar with off-duty members of staff, his wife sent a series of frustrated messages.
She told him, bluntly: ‘As far as I’m concerned we are over. This is meant to be our family holiday not you drinking with the staff.’
The couple, however, seemed to be on better terms the following day, during which period they sent ‘loving’ messages on their return to Wallingford on the Monday afternoon, when both attended a barbecue at Ms Hurmuz-Irimia’s mother’s home.
Later that evening, Mihai Hurmuz-Irimia twice took the couple’s dog out for a walk, during which period he was said to have bought cocaine.
The jury heard he had claimed to have taken two grams of the drug on the night of the killing.
The defendant, who denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, showed no emotion when the jury returned its verdict on 25 July after just three and a half hours of deliberations.
Remanding him in custody to be sentenced on Thursday, Judge Ian Pringle KC said: ‘The sentence will be one of life imprisonment but I need to set a term, a minimum term, which you need to serve before being eligible to apply for parole.’
Hurmuz-Irimia said he had been suffering from an emotionally unstable personality disorder.
During the week-long trial, the court heard that the defendant stabbed his wife 171 times. There were so many wounds that, in places, pathologist Dr Charlotte Randall was only able to estimate the wounds in a particular area of the body.
Pictures of the couple’s flat on a cul-de-sac on the outskirts of the historic market town of Wallingford showed the terrible aftermath of the attack.
While the victim’s body had been obscured in the photographs, large pools of blood on the floor around her were still clearly visible.
There was extensive bloodstaining in the bedroom, where the attack began, and in the hallway where her body was found face-down on the ground.
Bloodstaining evidence suggested her husband had walked into the living room following the attack, sat down on the sofa and used the TV remote.
He also took a shower, leaving his heavily bloodstained boxer shorts on the bathroom floor.
Mihai Hurmuz-Irimia, 29, (pictured) denied murder on the basis of diminished responsibility
In his closing speech to the jury on Monday, prosecutor John Price KC suggested the motive for the killing was ‘easy to find’.
He suggested the defendant was ‘resentful’ of attempts by his wife to make him stop drinking.
Mr Price said: ‘This was a killing of a woman for which this defendant was fully responsible and he has tried to conceal that responsibility by lying or by refusing to state was really happened.
‘This killing, we submit, was undoubtedly murder. And that is the verdict we would [ask] you to return.’
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Jon Capps, of the Major Crime Unit, said: ‘In the early hours of Tuesday, August 30, Mihai Hurmuz-Irimia attacked and killed his wife using horrific levels of violence.
‘After killing Katie we believe he showered and watched some television before calmly calling the police to report what he had done.
‘The call to the police was all about him; a self-serving attempt to gain sympathy and portray himself in a better light. He subsequently gave no account in his police interview or at trial, leaving Katie’s family searching for answers.
‘Katie was a much-loved mum, daughter, sister, aunty and friend who was well liked in the community in which she lived.
‘Her family are still coming to terms with what happened. They have sat through the trial to be there for Katie but in doing so have heard days of distressing evidence which no family should have to experience.
‘Katie’s family have put their faith in my investigation team and I would like to thank them for this trust; it has been a privilege to do everything we can to bring them a level of justice for what happened.
‘There have been many months of investigation, scientific and expert evidence to ensure this outcome.
‘My thanks also go to all those who helped by providing statements detailing background history and events in the days leading up to the murder, all of which have helped us piece together an understanding of what happened.
‘These accounts have helped us ensure a dangerous offender will now serve life imprisonment.’
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