Kelli Bothwell murder: Smiles hid brutal catalogue of violence of killer partner

The 53-year-old Doncaster mum of two was fatally stabbed at the couple’s home in Sprotbrough after a night out last August with Cousans then turning the knife on himself, chillingly telling her: “I die, you die.”

But while Kelli died from her injuries, sadistic Cousans, who stabbed himself in the chest, is now starting a sentence of 19 years behind bars for his crime, just part of a catalogue of domestic violence.

The vile thug blamed Kelli for her own death as she lay dying, as police raced to the couple's house on Main Street, Sprotbrough after the pair had spent the evening at a nearby bar on August 5.

Her grieving family have paid an emotion tribute to Kelli, saying: "She was a beautiful soul who had time for everyone. She had been married three times and moved around the country for love. She craved the fairytale, but it led her into the arms of her killer."

After the inital stab wound, Kelli managed to dial 999 and the operator heard Cousans tell her: ‘You have destroyed my life’ and ‘you die, I die’ during the harrowing recording.

Sheffield Crown Court heard he had a previous conviction for assaulting his ex-wife and a long history of domestic violence and coercive behaviour towards both women, yet held down a well-paid job as a business development manager for insurance giant AXA.

The court was told that Cousans’ violent history included strangling his ex-wife while she was pregnant and knocking her unconscious. After meeting Kelli in 2020, incidents began a year later and she confided in friends that he had assaulted her. She often had bruises visible at work and in July 2021 reported Cousans to police. The couple separated, but later reconciled and Kelli told officers that she would not support a prosecution, leading to the case being dropped.

Friends said that Cousans checked Kelli’s phone daily, locked her in the house, would not let her go to the shop alone and controlled what she could eat. She had deleted her social media accounts and left chat groups.

A powerful victim impact statement by her daughter Megan van Delft was read to the court. Megan said she and her sister Rhyanne, who between them have three children, had to clean up their mother’s blood from the ‘dream’ cottage she had moved into just months before her murder, which occurred only weeks after Megan had relocated to Doncaster to be closer to her.

"She was a beautiful soul who had time for everyone. She had been married three times and moved around the country for love. She craved the fairytale, but it led her into the arms of her killer. That fairytale involved her cottage on Main Street, but internally, there was very little of her personality on show – it was full of Paul’s possessions. The tenancy was in her name but the rent was high, so Paul had total control of her.”

Imposing a minimum prison term of 19 years, Recorder of Sheffield, Jeremy RIchardson KC, said: “This was a deliberate and brutal attack. It was not frenzied; it was targeted. Kelli lay dying before your eyes, yet you did not lift a finger to help her. You cruelly watched a woman die in front of you and stabbed her again. You remained calm and matter of fact, and that is a truly chilling feature of this case.

"Kelli had suffered an unrelenting cascade of emotional abuse and regular, repeated violence. She was emotionally overpowered by you and found it impossible to escape your vice-like grip. She was saturated with venom that came from you.

"You are a truly wicked individual and this was ingrained behaviour.”