'I confess, I’ll show you where I buried my wife': Millionaire murderer arrives in cuffs to lead police to woodland grave

-Adrian Prout convicted of murdering wife despite no corpse
-Police: 'He has agreed to visit the farm to point out the exact location'
-Originally claimed wife Kate had gone missing after a series of rows
-Diggers and specialist search teams arrive at his former home this morning
-He is believed to have confessed to the murder to his fiancée on Wednesday who then told detectives the following day

By Daily Mail Reporters


Prout (pictured right getting out of the van) arrived at the farm in handcuffs late this morning. He is expected to direct officers to the precise spot where he buried his wife's body


A businessman who was convicted of murdering his wife today took police to the spot where he had buried her body.

Officers faced the task of searching land at Red Hill Farm in Redmarley, Gloucestershire, after Adrian Prout, 49, finally confessed.

He is believed to have first told his fiancee, Debbie Garlick, on Wednesday that he killed Kate Prout. Ms Garlick then went to police to tell them about his admission. Yesterday two detectives visited him in prison where he confessed to the murder.

Detectives hope they can find the body of Mrs Prout swiftly so her family - which has suffered from years of anguish - can find some form of closure.


This aerial image shows the specialist equipment drafted in by police as they prepare to dig up an area of woodland within the 276-acre estate

Dozens of police vehicles were today dotted around the farm including diggers and 4x4s. He is thought to have strangled his wife and then used his expertise as a professional pipe-layer to bury her body on the farmland

Prout, who owned a successful pipe-laying business and ran a commercial pheasant shoot, and his retired teacher wife had a row and after killing her buried her body on his farm.

Prout fathered a child with Ms Garlick after his wife's disappearance. He was thought to have strangled her and then used his expertise as a professional pipe-layer to bury her body.

Several police cars, 4x4s and vans were seen arriving at the property this morning along with diggers as the search for Mrs Prout began once more.

Prout had always sworn he never harmed his spouse, but was found guilty of murder despite the absence of a corpse. He claimed she disappeared of her own volition after a series of rows.

But yesterday in a dramatic development, he confessed in prison that he had killed her and buried her body in woodland near his 276-acre estate.

Detective Superintendent Simon Atkinson, of Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: 'Yesterday morning we received some new and significant information in relation to the murder of Kate Prout.

'Yesterday afternoon two detectives paid a visit to the prison where Adrian Prout is being held.

'Adrian Prout has admitted to those detectives that he murdered Kate Prout - something which he had always denied - and has now suggested that he disposed of her body on Redhill Farm in Redmarley.

'He has agreed to visit the farm to point out the exact location.

'A detailed search of that location will be conducted next week; however, this will be a painstaking process so is likely to take some time. The scene will be guarded throughout the weekend.

'We are keeping Mrs Prout's family updated and fully informed of developments.

'The investigation into Kate Prout's death was challenging and complex, and ultimately led to Adrian Prout's conviction. This latest piece of information does not change that.

'Our main priority now is to recover Mrs Prout's body and enable her family to have some closure after the long ordeal they have been through.'

Three police cars seen arriving at Red Hill Farm this morning. At the time of her disappearance, Prout insisted that his wife simply walked out on him, leaving behind all her personal belongings

The shock admission came four years after Mrs Prout, a retired schoolteacher mysteriously vanished on Bonfire Night, 2007.

At the time of her disappearance, Prout insisted that the 55-year-old simply walked out on him, leaving behind all her personal belongings.

He waited five days before reporting her missing and police found no sign of her body despite massive searches of the couple's farm in Redmarley, Gloucestershire.

Prout, who organised commercial shoots and ran a company which laid pipes for utility companies, was convicted of murder by a 10-1 majority after a three-week trial in February 2010.

After the case Kate Prout's brother Richard Wakefield, tearfully pleaded with him to reveal what he had done with her body so relatives could 'lay her to rest'.

'Nothing will bring Kate back to us, but we are pleased that justice has been done,' he said at the time.

He added: ‘We would, however, appeal to Adrian to tell us what happened to Kate and where she is because we would like to lay her to rest and say our goodbyes.'

After he was jailed Prout and his fiancée, with whom he has a son, waged a campaign which continued to plead his innocence for the crime.

Last night a spokesman for Gloucestershire Police said: ‘Police who investigated the murder have received significant information about the case.

‘Officers are reviewing this information and will be following up the matter with some urgency.’


Officers prepare to start searching land and woods around the farm, After the Prout's trial, Kate Prout's brother Richard Wakefield, tearfully pleaded with him to reveal what he had done with her body so relatives could 'lay her to rest'


A police 4x4 crosses farmland near the 276-acre estate owned by Prout

Prout’s admission comes only days after the sale of his £1.6million farm, the former marital property, where his fiancée Debbie Garlick, lived with their daughter Evie, one.

Last night, 40-year-old Ms Garlick was unavailable for comment at her new home.

In Prout’s trial, the jury heard how his wife wrote in her diary about her disintegrating marriage.

‘Adrian couldn’t wait to "get rid of me" out of his life’, she said in one entry.

By 2006, Mrs Prout would often stay with friends after arguing with her husband and when she disappeared, her killer insisted that this time she had probably gone away for good.

Shortly before vanishing she had demanded an £800,000 divorce settlement, £200,000 more than Prout had offered.

Jailing him for a minimum of 18 years, Judge Mr Justice Nigel Davis told Prout: 'I have no way of knowing what your inner feelings must have been or what they are now.

You have shown no emotion through this trial.'

He added: 'One of the pieces of evidence that will stick in my mind is that Kate remembered her parents by laying flower on her grave.

'I suspect the family of Kate may like to lay flowers on her grave. They cannot because of you.'



source:dailymail