‘Wonderful mum’ Izzy Knight was murdered by her husband Paul Knight as their two little girls slept in their bedrooms at their home
A man has been jailed for 17-years after strangling his “beautiful” wife to death while their two daughters slept in their bedrooms.
Paul Knight, 35, pleaded guilty to murdering talented artist Isobella “Izzy” Knight in their semi-detached home in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, on June 13 last year.
Her heartbroken father previously described how Izzy had been the victim of “controlling behaviour and verbal and psychological abuse” at the hands of Knight, with her murder coming after she told him she wanted to leave.
The court heard how on the morning after the killing, Knight asked his mother to look after their children, claiming he and Izzy were unwell. Once they had been picked up, he made several unsuccessful suicide attempts before crashing his car in a McDonald’s car park nearby. Police officers responding to the incident decided to search his home after finding Knight exhibiting suspicious behaviour, and Izzy’s body was discovered.
A post-mortem later found she died as a result of pressure being applied to her neck. The court heard Knight attacked his “incredible” wife in a violent rage.
In the days following Izzy’s death, her family described her as “beautiful, inside and out”.
“I want everyone to know that Izzy was so much more than a victim,” her mum Helena said. “She was a loving mother, a treasured daughter, a best friend in sister form, a talented artist, and a great friend. She laughed, she cried, she worked tirelessly to provide for her children, she had dreams, and she loved hard.
“She was such a lovely woman, and I already miss her so much. She will never ever be forgotten, and we will make sure her girls grow up knowing what an incredible person she was.”
Her dad Tim said: “When I think of Izzy, it’s as a mum. She was wonderful, she just shone… She encouraged her children to find their talents, and now as her family we will keep her memory alive for them. We will stand side by side and say to them ‘this is your mum, and she was brilliant and wonderful, and she loved you so much’, just the way I have always loved her.”
Tim said the thug had strangled her to death because she planned on leaving him. “She suffered from his controlling behaviour and verbal and psychological abuse, particularly over the last few years,” he said. “She told him that she wanted to split, and they had come to an agreement on how to handle things for the benefit of the kids. Izzy made it clear that she’d had enough.”
The two children, aged six and three, are now being looked after by Izzy’s mum Helena, and her partner David.
