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1 December 2010
Last updated at 12:24 ET
A man has been convicted of drowning his partner in the bath of their Ballymena home 15 years ago.
William Mawhinney, 51, of Gracehill March, Cambridgeshire, was re-arrested in July last year and charged with murdering Lorraine Mills.
On Wednesday, the jury at Belfast Crown Court convicted Mawhinney by a majority verdict of 10 to two.
Mr Justice Weir told him he would serve a life sentence but deferred a decision on the minimum term until January.
Ms Mills' body was found in the bath of the Staffa Drive, Ballymena, home she shared with Mawhinney and their two children in May 1995.
A post mortem examination found that she had died from drowning, had a fractured skull and was seven times over the drink drive limit at the time of her death.
Mawhinney was originally arrested and interviewed at the time of her death but the case against him was dropped.
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During the course of the month-long hearing, the jury heard evidence from their now 22-year-old daughter Kelly Keely who said she was just six years old when she saw her father attack and drown her mother in the bath.
The jury also heard from Mawhinney's second wife Gwen Mawhinney who told the court that while watching TV one evening in 2002, he had boasted to her that "the police were stupid - I got away with it".
She told the jury how Mawhinney boasted, with no emotion whatsoever, that he had "committed the perfect murder" when he walked into the bathroom "and pushed her head under the water".
Although Mawhinney made his confession in 2002, it was not until 2008 when she telephoned police in Cambridgeshire to tell them.
Speaking outside the court, Ms Mills' brother Chris said he was "chuffed to bits" at the guilty verdict.
"In my own heart I always knew he done it," he said.
"I'm just so glad that the police brought this up again and that he had been found guilty."
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William Mawhinney, 51, of Gracehill March, Cambridgeshire, was re-arrested in July last year and charged with murdering Lorraine Mills.
On Wednesday, the jury at Belfast Crown Court convicted Mawhinney by a majority verdict of 10 to two.
Mr Justice Weir told him he would serve a life sentence but deferred a decision on the minimum term until January.
Ms Mills' body was found in the bath of the Staffa Drive, Ballymena, home she shared with Mawhinney and their two children in May 1995.
A post mortem examination found that she had died from drowning, had a fractured skull and was seven times over the drink drive limit at the time of her death.
Mawhinney was originally arrested and interviewed at the time of her death but the case against him was dropped.
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
In my own heart I always knew he done it”
End Quote
Chris Mills
Victim's brother
During the course of the month-long hearing, the jury heard evidence from their now 22-year-old daughter Kelly Keely who said she was just six years old when she saw her father attack and drown her mother in the bath.
The jury also heard from Mawhinney's second wife Gwen Mawhinney who told the court that while watching TV one evening in 2002, he had boasted to her that "the police were stupid - I got away with it".
She told the jury how Mawhinney boasted, with no emotion whatsoever, that he had "committed the perfect murder" when he walked into the bathroom "and pushed her head under the water".
Although Mawhinney made his confession in 2002, it was not until 2008 when she telephoned police in Cambridgeshire to tell them.
Speaking outside the court, Ms Mills' brother Chris said he was "chuffed to bits" at the guilty verdict.
"In my own heart I always knew he done it," he said.
"I'm just so glad that the police brought this up again and that he had been found guilty."
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