Phillip Dafter claims voice in his head told him to ‘end it’ moments before killing wife in Northampton flat

A man accused of murdering his wife at their Northampton home claims that, moments before her death, he heard a voice in his head telling him to end his own life, a trial has heard.

Phillip Dafter, aged 32, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Wednesday, April 19 for the second week of his trial after the body of his wife, 36-year-old Diana Dafter, was discovered in the kitchen of their top-floor flat in Lawrence Court on October 7, 2022.

He denies murder but admits manslaughter, arguing loss of control and diminished responsibility.

The court heard that Dafter had given different doctors different accounts of what happened in the moments leading up to killing his wife.

That morning, Dafter claimed that he and Mrs Dafter had an argument about taking one of their cars to have an MOT.

Dafter told the first doctor he spoke to that he stabbed his wife in a “moment of madness” and did not have any thoughts of trying to harm himself until after the attack. Also, the night before, he felt he should have time away because his wife was “going on and on” at him.

However, Dafter told another psychiatrist that a “voice in his head” told him he is not a good enough person, he should “end it” and stop all the suffering. He said he picked up a knife with the intention of stabbing himself but Mrs Dafter was next to him and he went for her instead - he did not know why.

The court heard that Dafter had been treated for depression at least twice in the past and had been prescribed antidepressants.

When Dafter was asked why he does not stand by what be told the first doctor, he replied: “Because my wife was already dead so I just wanted to get out the hospital and go to prison. I just wanted to get on with it.”

The court heard that Dafter stabbed his wife five times and inflicted a total of 17 knife injuries. There were stab wounds to the victim’s pelvis, abdomen, left thigh and arm, which a pathologist described as a “classic defensive type injury” indicative of someone trying to protect their body.

When Dafter was asked if he remembered the attack, he said no. He told the court: “It was so quick. If I had a chance to do anything else, I would have done something different.”

He added: “I wanted to die. That is the only thing I know.”

When Dafter was asked if he could recall his wife screaming, fighting or trying to escape, he said he could not remember and, in an attempt to show the court how he stabbed Mrs Dafter, he swivelled in the dock and stabbed out behind him with his right hand as he faced forwards.

Gordon Aspden, prosecuting, replied: “You are saying you inflicted all those injuries while you had your back to her?”

The defendant responded yes. The barrister asked what would have stopped his wife from leaving the room. Dafter said he didn’t know.

The court heard that it would have taken a few minutes for Mrs Dafter to bleed to death after the fatal stab wound was inflicted.

When asked if this was a violent and prolonged attack, Dafter told the court: “I’m not a violent person. I have never been known to harm anybody.”

The defendant told the court that, by the time his wife had collapsed, he left the kitchen and he did not call an ambulance for her because he “panicked” but he did not think she was going to die.

Dafter said: “I walked back into the kitchen and checked her pulse and then I saw that there was nothing there. At that point, I was thinking she was dead and I was like, no way, she can’t be dead.”

Dafter told jurors he then stabbed himself with the blade repeatedly hoping that he would bleed out quickly but the blade broke off the handle so he decided to drive himself to the ASDA supermarket on Thornton Road to buy a set of new knives.

Despite the defendant claiming he was “highly agitated and emotional” during that time, he stopped for a brief chat with a neighbour, who described him as being “normal.” The supermarket assistant at ASDA described Dafter as “very pleasant” and “polite.”

Dafter told the court: ““All I can say is I am sorry that tragic event happened because of my actions but that was not my intention that day.”

The trial continues.