Man killed wife and hid body in an oil barrel for over 20 years

London, Feb 10 : A British man living in Australia killed his wife and hid her in an oil barrel for more than 20 years.

Frederick Boyle, who pleaded not guilty to his spouse Edwina Boyle's murder, was convicted at the Victoria State Supreme Court in Melbourne.

The 58-year-old claimed that he hid the body of his 30-year-old wife out of panic after finding her dead in bed with two bullets in her head and one of his ties around her neck at their home on Oct. 6, 1983. e said that he hid the body out of fear of being booked as a suspect, as he was having an affair.

"Obviously I didn't want to be charged with a murder I didn't commit," the Telegraph quoted Frederick, as saying.

For many years, family members kept asking about the sealed oil drum but Frederick always said that it contained glue for sticking down carpets.

Frederick had told his two daughters that their mother ran off with a truck driver.

However, his son-in-law Michael Hegarty found the remains in the 44-gallon drum while tidying the yard in October 2006.

"There was an unpleasant smell. He reached inside and felt a slimy substance. He pulled out a legbone," prosecutor Gavin Silbert told the court.

Boyle can face life imprisonment. A sentencing date has not been set.

ANI