Australian Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Estranged Wife While Allegedly Giving Her Neck Massage: Reports - PEOPLE

[Brenton Blanchet]

A man in Australia has reportedly pleaded guilty to manslaughter after being accused of strangling his estranged wife on Valentine's Day while giving her a neck massage.

Jeffrey James Godfrey, 53, pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge in Brisbane Supreme Court on Thursday, Jan. 23 over the 2022 death of his 46-year-old estranged wife Vanessa Godfrey after he allegedly believed she took his IDs, according to multiple local outlets including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), The Brisbane Times and 9 News.

As ABC noted, citing last week's court hearing, the couple was married for 27 years and continued to spend time together despite being separated. They were staying at Pelican Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast at the time of the crime and, per the Brisbane Times, prosecutor Matthew Le Grand said Jeffrey had been using methamphetamine for a decade and had become paranoid.

He was reportedly not under the influence of substances at the time of the crime but was having delusions about his wife, according to ABC, which cited the hearing.

Vanessa Godfrey.
Vanessa Godfrey/Facebook


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The couple was away celebrating a friend's birthday the night before when Jeffrey realized he was missing his driver’s license and Medicare card and believed his wife stole them, per the outlet. Jeffrey then reportedly asked Vanessa if “his whole life had been a lie," and when Vanessa asked her husband to give her a massage on the morning of Valentine's Day, he put his arm around her neck and strangled her, per the Times.

According to News 9, he then cut her arms with a knife after he thought he saw her breathe, drank alcohol, took valium tablets and cut his own arms before hotel staff discovered the couple on their bed.

The husband, according to ABC, told authorities that he believed Vanessa said it was true and that "no one else would figure it out," as he admitted to killing her.

Stock image of a police cruiser with red and blue emergency lights.
Getty


Citing the court hearing, News 9 reports that Jeffrey was originally charged with murder as a domestic violence offense before it was downgraded to manslaughter after he was diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis.

Olivia Godfrey, the couple's daughter, provided a victim impact statement and said her father's drug use impacted his mental health, according to ABC. "[My father] almost broke me," she said, adding that her mother's death changed her life "in every way possible."

"I lost my beautiful mother to my father's horrible choices," she said. "This horrific crime has continued to haunt me."

The prosecution asked the judge to sentence Jeffrey to 10 years in prison, as his defense lawyer Simon Lewis argued for 9 years, according to ABC. Justice Glenn Martin will hand down a sentence on Thursday, Jan. 30, per the Times.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.