Martin Suter, a 68-year-old keen sailor from Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, was sentenced at Portsmouth Crown Court for the brutal murder of his 71-year-old ex-wife, Ann Blackwood, on 24 July 2023. The attack occurred at Crofton Cemetery in Stubbington, where Suter lay in wait for five hours before stabbing Blackwood to death at the graveside of their son, Christopher, on what would have been his 36th birthday.
The court heard that Suter, armed with a large kitchen knife from his home, anticipated Blackwood's visit to the cemetery. As she arrived by bicycle and approached the grave with flowers and scissors, Suter attacked her from behind, stabbing her in the back. When the knife blade broke, he seized the scissors she had brought and repeatedly stabbed her in the neck and shoulder, inflicting 19 wounds. Blackwood, a vulnerable elderly woman enjoying her retirement with activities like tennis, sailing, cycling, and music, died at the scene in this peaceful location where she expected safety.
Following the attack, Suter calmly called 999 at 3.39pm, admitting, 'I have just murdered someone, I have just killed my ex-wife, I have just stabbed her to death.' He blamed Blackwood for their son's 2003 death, which a coroner ruled accidental, and for ruining his life. Suter then contacted his second wife, Diane, confessing the murder and referencing his impending prison term for a prior indecent assault conviction, stating, 'I know I am going to prison, I may as well go for this.' To concerned passers-by offering help, he remarked, 'It’s been 40 years, I couldn’t take it any more.'
Suter and Blackwood, who had two children and previously lived in Stockport, Greater Manchester, divorced in 2004 after Christopher's death. Diagnosed with autism and depression, Suter pleaded guilty to the murder. However, prosecutor Robert O’Sullivan KC noted that Suter showed no genuine remorse and contested the murder charge. Defence counsel Jodie Mittell KC highlighted difficulties in assessing remorse due to his autism diagnosis.
Judge Michael Bowes KC described the murder as a 'wicked' act, stating, 'You brutally murdered Ann Blackwood in the most cruel and agonising way you could by stabbing her to death on her son’s grave, and this is rightly characterised by her family and friends as an act of wickedness.' He emphasised that Christopher’s tragic loss did not reduce Suter's culpability. In a victim impact statement, Blackwood’s brother John Blackwood said, 'The fact that such wickedness can exist and be perpetrated by one human being on another is alien to us and totally beyond our comprehension.' The family described Blackwood as a loving, caring, kind-hearted mother and friend, popular in her local community.
In addition to the murder, Suter was sentenced for an indecent assault on a girl under 14, to which he had pleaded guilty in May 2023 at Manchester Crown Court. The sentencing took place at Portsmouth Crown Court, with Hampshire Constabulary involved in the investigation.