Wheatley murder defendant found dead in cell

A WHEATLEY man on trial for murdering his wife by cutting her throat, has been found dead in his cell.

Russell Yeates, a 49 year-old carpenter, of Bell Lane in Wheatley, denied slitting the throat of 47-year-old Deborah Smith at their home last May.

His trial at Oxford Crown Court, was due to begin hearing evidence from the defence today, but Yeates was found dead in his cell at Bullingdon prison early this morning.

A spokesman for the Prison Service is reported to have said: “HMP Bullingdon prisoner Russell Yeates was found in his cell at 5.30am. Mr Yeates was pronounced dead at the scene. As with all deaths in custody, the prisons and probation ombudsman will conduct an investigation.”

During Yeates’s trial, a jury heard a 999 call which recorded the moment a neighbour, Denise Jones, found the bloodsoaked body of a woman whose throat had apparently been cut at the bottom of the stairs.

She told the court she had gone to look for Mrs Smith after Yeates staggered to her door with blood pouring from a neck wound.

Yeates was accused of slitting his wife’s throat with a knife following a confrontation, before using the blade on himself.

He denied murdering his wife on May 26 last year.

Photo: Bullingdon prison where Russell Yeates was found dead in his cell this morning.