Portsmouth, UK, 2014. A man flew into a rage and stabbed his wife in the back after he woke up with cold feet because she hogged the bedsheets, a court has heard. Retired engineer Derek Miller, 76, is accused of plunging a 10-inch kitchen knife into Galina Miller's shoulder before telling her: 'You will die now.
Court hears that after his wife fled their home, sailing enthusiast Miller phoned the police and told them: 'I have just attempted to kill my wife. She's run away - I have failed.' Portsmouth Crown Court heard Miller was 'resentful' that his wife was gaining independence and was out of the house more often. Mrs Miller, 57, had found a job teaching English to foreign students in Liphook, Hampshire after discovering once-wealthy Miller was £70,000 in debt, jurors heard.
The couple's relationship had been 'on the rocks' before the attack, but they had tried to patch things up the previous night. Miller had bought his Russian-born wife chocolates, the 'biggest bunch of flowers he could find', and agreed to cook her dinner. But he is alleged to have become angry the next day when he woke up with cold feet and no covers on them. Prosecutor Rob Welling told the jury: 'That instantly made him angry and aggressive towards Galina.'
Mr Welling added: 'All the good work that had been done the night before collapsed around them and there was more arguing. 'There was more discussion about the divorce and the defendant said: "So, is this the end now?"' Miller, from Portsmouth, Hants, is then said to have attacked his wife as she collected bin liners from the kitchen.
Mr Welling added: 'She became aware of something odd about her shoulder. She turned round and found the defendant there in the kitchen, holding a huge kitchen knife.'She very quickly learned and became aware that she was bleeding from her shoulder and that she had already been stabbed in the back.'
Mr Welling said the knife was 'the biggest in the house' and Mrs Miller had not heard her husband enter the kitchen. He added: 'When she saw the knife he said "you will die now".' Miller, a father of three, told the jury: 'She turned her back and I picked up the knife. I was in a completely different world. I don't know why I did it.
'I did not intend to do it. I did not even know the knife was there. It just happened to be on the bench by the sink... I was in the land of the fairies. It was just getting rid of frustration.' Mrs Miller, still wearing her dressing gown, pushed her husband of 11 years to the floor and escaped after the attack on November 26 last year.
Miller, who has no previous convictions, was the first person to dial 999. His emergency call was played to the court. He later told police: 'I'm sorry, it had to be done. She has goaded me for years.'
The couple met online in 2002 and later met in Moscow's Red Square. They tied the knot later that year in what was Miller's second marriage. He had been a professional footballer in his youth before training in aeronautical engineering and later becoming an IT salesman. He became wealthy and was able to retire at the age of 50 before moving to Portsmouth in 1999 and joining Portsmouth Sailing Club.
The pair travelled extensively before Mrs Miller gained a post-graduate degree at the University of Portsmouth. But Miller complained her work as a teacher left little time for him. The court heard Mrs Miller believed her husband had been looking on the internet for call girls and perhaps going with prostitutes before the attack.
He told the court she was also convinced he was having a relationship with a shopworker at Lidl. He said: 'She just did not let it rest. She said: "You are going down to the shop to see your girlfriend again."' Miller denies attempted murder, and the trial continues. DailyMail.
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