A woman has been found been guilty of murdering her husband of almost 30 years after claiming his death was a tragic accident.
Daryl Berman, 72, was accused of stabbing her 84-year-old husband David Berman at their home in Prestwich, Greater Manchester.
Mr Berman, a prominent member of Manchester’s Jewish community who’d recently been diagnosed with dementia, was found lying in pools of blood in the kitchen.
His wife dialled 999 and and when police arrived they initially accepted her explanation that he had fallen on to a knife he was carrying on a lunch tray.
But the jury heard how suspicions were raised when two pathologists carried out post-mortems on Mr Berman and found his injuries were more characteristic of a fatal attack than an accident.
Berman had denied murder but was found guilty following a trial at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court.
The jury heard how paramedics were called to the couple’s address around 2pm, on March 13, last year.
Berman had told a 999 operator, who asked her what happened: ‘I don’t know.
‘I was in the other room. He’s carried a tray in.
‘And all I can see is the tray. I think there was a knife I don’t know whether the little knife that was there has gone into him and stabbed him.
‘I really don’t know what happened.’
During the same call, Berman says that her husband ‘slipped’ while he was in the kitchen and that ‘blood is coming from his mouth’.
The call operator then instructs her to start compressions and Berman repeatedly shouts, ‘Push, push, push.’
When paramedics arrived, they found Mr Berman on the kitchen floor, with the tray, a 12cm long paring knife and a broken plate next to him, the jury heard.
Attempts were made to resuscitate him but he was pronounced dead around 40 minutes later.
Mr Berman’s daughter Debbie, who’d earlier accompanied him on visit to a soft-play centre with his great-granddaughter, was also called to the address.
She’d received a call from Berman, who told her: ‘I don’t know if your dad’s dead or alive and there’s blood everywhere.’
Debbie recalled ‘screaming’ after seeing her stricken father being worked on by paramedics and seeing so much blood in the kitchen ‘it was like an abattoir’.
When police were called to the scene, Berman told them: “You don’t think I've murdered him do you?”
She told officers that she’d heard two loud ‘thuds’ from the kitchen and went ‘tearing in’ before finding her bloodied husband ‘gurgling’ on the floor.
Seeing him had felt like an ‘out of body experience’, she said, and the whole kitchen floor was ‘bright red’.
Giving evidence in court, Berman maintained that she’d played no role in the death of her husband after the jury heard he’d been in ‘declining health’ and needed a walking stick to get around.
Mr Berman had also been diagnosed with dementia, had a pneumothorax and a calcification in the upper chambers of his heart.
Berman told police he was prone to falls and when speaking to a neighbour about her husband’s dementia she told him: 'This my life now.'
The jury heard how the couple had been together for 30 years and married for 27 years and had a loving relationship, with Berman supportive of her husband.
But in the aftermath of his death, some members of his family noticed how ‘matter of fact’ and ‘emotionless’ she appeared.
Dr. Philip Lumb, a pathologist instructed by the prosecution, maintained that it was “inconceivable” that Mr Berman’s death was accidental and a 2.5cm stab wound to his chest and a ‘defensive’ wound to his finger were more characteristic of a fatal attack.
However, Dr Richard Shepherd, a pathologist instructed by the defence who’s investigated high-profile cases including Princess Diana, 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings disagreed that Mr Berman had suffered a ‘defensive’ wound to his finger and he ‘can’t exclude accident or homicide’.
He told the jury one scenario out of possible hundreds was that Mr Berman had fallen to the floor, picked up the knife in his right hand and then, as he tried to get up, fell.
Berman had faced a retrial after a jury at previous trial, in December 2025, was discharged when they failed to reach a verdict on a murder charge.
She’ll be sentenced on July 3.
Sazeeda Ismail, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Daryl Berman stabbed her husband of 27 years in the chest and intentionally caused his death.
“She lied to paramedics, police and family members when she claimed Mr Berman had accidentally sustained his fatal injuries.
“The jury saw through her lies and convicted her of murder, due to the strength of the prosecution’s case.
“My thoughts are with David Berman’s loved ones at this very difficult time.”
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