Ex-husband convicted of Harriotts Lane Murder

At Croydon Crown Court yesterday 55-year-old unemployed Surrey businessman, Graham George Birchwood, was found guilty of the murder of his ex-wife Sharon Birchwood in December 2007. Birchwood was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 32 years.

Birchwood pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering Sharon at her home address of 14 Harriott's Lane, Ashtead on 4 December 2007. Sharon's body was found by South East Coast Ambulance Service on 7 December when they were called by Birchwood to the bungalow in Harriott's Lane where Sharon lived alone. He alleged he had called in to visit and was shocked to discover her body in her bedroom.

She was found lying dead on her bed, bound and gagged, using a combination of parcel tape and electrical cord. Her wrists and ankles had been tightly bound together by tape, and the tape from the wrists pulled her hands up to her face
and then wound round her face and head, acting as a tight gag across the mouth. Electrical cord was wound around her head. From the onset it was clear to officers that she had been murdered, and her death did not appear to result from a burglary or sexual assault that had gone wrong.

The post mortem examination found that death resulted from asphyxia caused by the combined effects of ligature compression to the neck and gagging and pressure to the mouth.

George and Sharon Birchwood had divorced some 20 years ago although this was not disclosed to many people and Sharon kept up the pretence to her family and friends. Despite the divorce witnesses describe Sharon as devoted to George over all the years and he still visited the property regularly every week.

Immediately following the divorce Birchwood remarried but by 2007 that marriage was floundering. He had not worked for a very long time and his various business interests in South East Asia, in particular in Thailand, had come to nothing. He had considerable debts and was threatened with bankruptcy, and his only hope was to find enough money to clear his debts and start over again. If Sharon were to die, as the sole beneficiary of her will Birchwood would inherit their jointly owned property at Ashtead and £75,000 from her life insurance policy.

Birchwood was aware that he would inevitably become a possible suspect if his wife was to be murdered. He therefore went to great lengths to distance himself from the circumstances of the death and make it appear he was the innocent finder of his ex-wife's body. He said he hadn't seen Sharon for 2 or 3 days and had called in on his way to the diabetic clinic at Epsom Hospital.

Interviewed initially as a witness, and latterly as a formal suspect, he did however change his story as it became clear that detectives were unravelling his web of deceit.

Painstaking forensic work revealed that DNA traces from Sharon's right hand and fingernails, and the roll of tape used to bind her, matched the DNA of Paul Cryne, a 61-year-old man who lives in Thailand and whom Birchwood had only met once two years previously.

Commenting on the result, Detective Chief Inspector Maria Woodall said: "Sharon Birchwood had no known enemies. She lived a quiet, harmless, ordinary life style, burdened by ill health and living in rather poor conditions with little social life. She was totally betrayed by the greed of the man she had married and been devoted to for 30 years.

"I must praise the investigating officers because this conviction reflects their determination to get at the truth in a case where initially there was no obvious motive or any obvious clues as to the offender. There was meticulous forensic examination of the crime scene and any article which could possibly have connected the offender with the scene or the victim. The investigation was extremely thorough, looking at every aspect of those involved. This included establishing in detail all their movements over many days and all their communications including their use of a number of mobile phones.

"Birchwood made the callous decision that his ex-wife must die and then set about a ruthless plot which he hoped would distance himself from this evil crime. That he failed is a tribute to the officers in the Surrey Major Crime Investigation Team who investigated this case."

The family of Sharon Birchwood has issued the following statement:

"On 7 December 2007 we received the devastating news that Sharon had been murdered in her own home. We were obviously shocked and unable to understand why this had happened and who could have committed such a terrible act. There were so many questions in our minds and no answers available at that time.

"Sharon was a kind, caring member of the family who kept herself to herself and would never cause any harm or upset to anybody. This made what had happened to her even harder to comprehend.

"In the 18 months since her death we have been living through a nightmare as more and more facts about the case have been released. This has affected the whole family, especially her 82 year old mother who has suffered serious health problems as a consequence.

"Now that Graham has been convicted we feel that justice has been done for Sharon and hope to be able to rebuild our lives and move on.

"We would like to thank the Surrey Police, particularly the Family Liaison Officers, for all of their hard work throughout this case and for their support to our family during this very difficult time."

The main suspect in this investigation Paul Cryne, is currently in Thailand awaiting extradiction. It is likely that this process will occur in July.

PC Jason Woods
Ashtead Neighbourhood Specialist Officer