When they finally entered 25 minutes later, they found the
wife, 41-year-old Taiwo, with her ‘skull smashed in’.
However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown
Court, warned him the only possible sentence was life imprisonment.
Suffolk Constabulary has referred itself to the Independent
Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed three officers were under
investigation.
An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers
that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police
standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.
“We advised another officer that they are under
investigation at the level of misconduct.”
Abodunde had a history of jealousy and suspicion and accused
his wife of having affairs. He had been investigated by police a number of
times over alleged domestic violence incidents before his wife’s death.
He was arrested on April 27 last year when police arrived at
the couple’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk, and found Mrs Abodunde with a split
lip.
Later that day, he was freed on police bail with the
condition that he stayed away from the marital home and didn’t approach his
wife.
But after working a night shift at Tesco, he went home just
after 9 am to allegedly pick up his mobile phone.
Two officers arrived at 9.20 am to take a statement from Mrs
Abodunde about the previous night’s incident and heard repeated banging noises
inside.
But it wasn’t until 9.55 am that they forced their way in
after getting approval from senior officers and found Mrs Abodunde ‘obviously
dead’ near the front door.
A post-mortem examination later showed she had been
throttled until she fell unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were
broken before her husband used the skateboard to finish her off. The blows were
so violent that the skateboard was damaged.
Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court the banging
officers heard was likely to have been Abodunde continuing to attack his wife
after she was unconscious or dead.
Mrs Abodunde had a job as a care home assistant in
Cambridge, but her husband, who had trained as a civil engineer, was unable to
find work in his profession and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.
After his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to
hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode”.
He later claimed in a police statement he had acted in
self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number
of years.
“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with
a knife, I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”
But the court heard while he did have an injury to his hand,
there wasn’t a knife near his wife’s body.
Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the level of violence was
‘completely out of character’ for her client and might have been affected by
medication he was taking. But she said no medical evidence would be provided to
support this claim.
Detective Inspector Dan Connick, of Suffolk Police, said
after the hearing, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a lasting
impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.
‘We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to
go through the pain of a trial.
‘Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends and
hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.’
Taiwo Abodunde worked for Cambridge Manor Care Home, which
provides dementia care and residential and respite care.
A spokesman for the facility, which is owned by TLC Care,
said: ‘We are all deeply shaken and upset by the tragic death of Taiwo, who was
a much-loved member of our home community.
‘Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with her family.
Taiwo always cared for those we support with compassion and kindness, and she
will be greatly missed by all of us and our residents.’
Abodunde was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on
May 9.
