Wife and lover convicted of murdering wealthy farmer after sharing violent fantasies of killing him

Trial reveals violent sexual messages showing desire to torture and kill elderly landowner

William Taylor was found dead on a secluded riverbank eight months after he went missing before his 70th birthday (Hertfordshire Police)

A wife and her lover have been convicted of murdering her wealthy husband after revelling in violently pornographic fantasies of torturing and killing him for months.

Angela Taylor and Paul Cannon shared a “venomous hatred” of farmer William Taylor, who was found dead more than eight months after he went missing just before his 70th birthday.

Mr Taylor had steadfastly refused to grant his wife of 20 years a divorce.

His decomposed remains were found by a fisherman on a secluded riverbank near his home of Harkness Hall, Hertfordshire, in February.

Prosecutor John Price QC said hundreds of violent WhatsApp messages between the pair, some of which discussed seriously harming the husband in graphic detail, had been found.

Despite a lack of forensic evidence, jurors convicted the pair of murder after hearing dozens of messages expressing a desire to seriously harm Taylor’s husband.

Mr Taylor, known as Bill, was last seen alive at his home of Harkness Hall at around 9pm on 3 June by his grandson Ben, who had taken him for a Sunday roast.

In the following days, Cannon sold a Suzuki 4x4 for cash before the vehicle ended up in Bulgaria, while Taylor got rid of her mobile phone, the trial heard.

However, WhatsApp messages found on Cannon’s phone beginning in February last year showed the pair had enjoyed discussing sexually graphic and violent ways of seriously harming Mr Taylor, who suffered from both tinnitus and arthritis.

The messages included fantasies of showering together as his blood ran down the drain and cutting his ligaments and fingers off.

On the night the landowner vanished, Cannon told Taylor he was “just watching Kill Bill 2 lol”, with her replying “1 would be nice” with several smiling emojis.

Jurors rejected the couple’s defence that the exchanges were pure sexual fantasy and had no basis in reality.

Mr Price said Cannon killed the cattle farmer himself while Taylor was probably at home, but she was equally guilty by encouraging him in the act.

The pair were also convicted of arson for partially torching Mr Taylor’s Land Rover several days before his disappearance.

Cannon’s work colleague, Gwyn Griffiths, from Folkestone, Kent, who the court heard had so-called “people-pleasing” psychological traits, was cleared of conspiracy to murder after being accused of discussing hiring a hitman with Cannon.

Taylor and Cannon, both from Hitchin, Hertfordshire, will be sentenced on Friday by judge Michael Kay QC.

The farmer’s cause of death remains unexplained.

Additional reporting by Press Association