Killer wife asked police 'why am I so calm?' after claiming husband 'fell on a knife'

Killer wife asked police 'why am I so calm?' after claiming husband 'fell on a knife' Daryl Berman, 72, told police husband David, 84, had stumbled while he took her lunch tray into the kitchen and had fallen on a knife at their home in Prestwich, Manchester A woman who stabbed her husband of 27 years asked “why are the police here? You don’t think I murdered him do you?” after claiming he fell on a knife. Police bodycam footage also caught Daryl Berman saying she was covered in blood and asking cops “why am I so calm?” as they responded to her husband’s death. Berman, 72, told police husband David, 84, had stumbled while he took her lunch tray into the kitchen of their home in Prestwich, Manchester, and had fallen on a knife. She claimed he said “It’s OK, I slipped” before she heard a groan and ran into the kitchen to discover him face down and covered in blood. Her account was initially accepted but her actions “unravelled” when suspicions were raised about the injury and a post-mortem examination later concluded it was non-accidental. Retired joiner Mr Berman also had a stab wound to his right middle finger which prosecutors said was a common self-defence injury. Paramedics attended the couple's address on March 13 last year after she dialled 999 but were unable to save him. Officers spoke to the defendant on the driveway of her home and she said: “You don't think I murdered him do you?” She was said to be “very calm and matter of fact”, the Crown said, and also had little blood on her despite stating she had rolled over her husband of 27 years. Last week she was convicted by a jury at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court of murder. Sentencing Berman to a life term, Judge Tina Landale told her: “It appears something happened between you where David went to the floor and you stabbed him in the chest with severe force. You have never given a truthful account of what happened. "I am satisfied something must have happened to cause you to lose your patience or temper and begin to attack David with the knife you had earlier used to prepare your lunch. Whatever the trigger was is unknown. I am sure you immediately regretted what you had done and tried to help him and called for an ambulance, and followed instructions to resuscitate him. “I am satisfied that you did not intend to kill David, rather your intent was that he suffer really serious bodily harm.” The judge added: “This was a domestic incident against a background of a decades-long happy marriage.” Both were said to have “adored each other” and there were no apparent problems between them to the outside world. The defendant was also said to be “coping” with Mr Berman's health issues, including a recent diagnosis of vascular dementia, and “by all accounts was nurturing and caring towards him”. After she rang for an ambulance, the defendant also called her husband’s children so they could see him as he fought for his life. In a victim personal statement read to the court, Mr Berman's son, also named Daryl, said he knew his father’s life was in danger by the “tone of her voice”. He said when he arrived it “strangely seemed like a crime scene already”, adding he has found what he saw in the kitchen “difficult to shake out of my head”. He told the court: “My sister was crying hysterically and then there was Daryl, who seemed fairly calm considering what had happened. Not being able to say goodbye properly will always be hard to swallow. I feel cheated.” Mr Berman's daughter Debbie Davis, said: “I keep going over different scenarios in my mind. I feel like I'm living in my own nightmare TV programme because things like this are not real. It has left a massive void in my life. I know my father was 84, but he still had some good years ahead of him. I feel bereft and cheated.” Berman was convicted in a retrial after a previous jury was discharged in December when they could not reach a verdict. She showed no reaction on Friday as she was led from the dock to begin her sentence. Det Insp Alex Wilkinson said after the sentencing: “David Berman was an 84-year-old man who should have been able to enjoy his later years in the safety of his own home. Instead, his life was cruelly cut short by the person he trusted most. “From the outset, Daryl Berman attempted to present her husband's death as a tragic accident and maintained that account throughout the investigation. However, the findings of the post-mortem examination exposed the truth and ultimately led to her being found guilty of his murder. "Our thoughts remain with David's family and loved ones as they continue to come to terms with his death. While nothing can undo the pain caused by his loss, we hope today's sentence provides them with a measure of justice and allows them to begin moving forward.”