A man has been jailed after murdering his partner and trying to conceal her death in his flat. Lisa Paris, 54, was found by emergency services with 70 bruises across her head, neck, body, arms and legs.
She was killed by 62-year-old Mark Fitzgerald who has now been put behind bars for life with a minimum term of 21 years and 168 days. He was sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court after being found guilty of murdering Ms Paris in March 24. The court heard how Fitzgerald pretended to have found her unconscious, but police have since discovered she may have been dead for up to 10 days. Her body had been left hidden under blankets and bedding.
Fitzgerald and Ms Paris, a mother of four, were in a relationship for eight years and both had flats in the same building on Rendle Street in Plymouth. However, Ms Paris mainly lived with Fitzgerald due to his drinking and health issues.
Their relationship had a history of abuse, with Fitzgerald previously convicted for attacking Ms Paris with a knife in 2020. Devon and Cornwall Police said she was last seen on CCTV putting out rubbish at around 9pm on March 8 last year.
The following day, a maintenance man spotted what looked like a body on the floor while he was visiting the flat to fix a water leak. He noticed an empty quilt cover hiding the body before Fitzgerald became aggressive and claimed someone was there but asleep.
Then, on March 16, Fitzgerald told his neighbours that he had not seen Ms Paris for two days. He claimed she had « gone off in a mood » after they had got into an argument.
However, he was then heard shouting for help on the night of March 18. He said: « She’s not breathing, she’s dead, » before paramedics rushed to the scene.
They arrived to find Fitzgerald lying on the sofa counting cash while a distressed neighbour performed CPR on Ms Paris. She was declared dead and a forensic post-mortem has since confirmed that she could have passed away any time up to March 8 when she was last seen.
Fitzgerald was arrested at the scene but denied killing Ms Paris in a police interview. He was charged with murder on May 29 this year and has now been jailed.
Although pathologists could not confirm a specific time and cause of death, Ms Paris was found with 70 bruise wounds. They included blunt-force injuries as well as finger-grip-type wounds around her neck.
Detective Inspector Neil Blanchard, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: « We welcome today’s sentence for Fitzgerald who is a dangerous individual who has never admitted or shown any remorse for his unforgiveable and callous actions.
« I want to pay tribute to Lisa’s family who have suffered an unimaginable loss in devastating circumstances but have acted with great patience and dignity throughout the investigation and court proceedings. I hope today’s outcome brings them some measure of peace.
« I would also like to thank the investigation team for their diligence and hard work on this very sad case. »
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