A 68-year-old man from Lee-on-the-Solent has been jailed for life with a minimum term of over 28 years for the murder of his ex-wife at their son’s graveside.
Martin Suter pleaded guilty to killing 71-year-old Ann Blackwood at Crofton Cemetery in Stubbington, Hampshire, on 24 July 2023, which would have been the 36th birthday of their late son Christopher. Suter also received a separate 121-day sentence for the indecent assault of a girl under 14 years, to which he had pleaded guilty earlier in May 2023.
During sentencing at Portsmouth Crown Court, Judge Michael Bowes KC described the murder as “wicked” and said that no sentence could compensate Blackwood’s family for their loss. He added: “You brutally murdered Ann Blackwood in the most cruel and agonising way… at her son’s grave.”
Prosecutors stated that Suter had planned the attack, bringing a kitchen knife to the cemetery and lying in wait for his ex-wife. When she arrived by bicycle, Suter first stabbed her with the knife and, after the blade broke, repeatedly stabbed her in the neck with a pair of scissors she had brought to cut flowers for her son’s grave. She suffered 19 stab wounds in total.
Suter called 999 after the attack, calmly admitting he had killed his ex-wife, and later informed his second wife of the murder. Prosecutors said he blamed Blackwood for his son’s death and showed no genuine remorse.
Ann Blackwood’s family described her as “a loving, caring, kind-hearted mother and friend” whose murder had devastated her relatives and friends. She was active in her local community, enjoying tennis, sailing, cycling, and music.
Suter, who has been diagnosed with autism and depression, will serve a minimum of 28 years before being eligible for parole. The case has been described by authorities as a “premeditated, violent, and tragic” act, targeting a vulnerable victim in a location where she would have expected to be safe.
