A woman who insisted her husband had falle in their kitchen and landed on a “little knife” has been convicted of his murder.
Daryl Berman, 72, maintained across two trials that the death of her husband, David Berman, 84, was an accident. Mr Berman sustained a fatal chest injury during an incident at their Butterstile Lane residence in Prestwich last March.
On Tuesday, after a week-long retrial at Minshull Street Crown Court following the first jury’s inability to reach a verdict, Berman was found guilty of murder. The prosecution argued Berman stabbed her husband “for a reason known only to her”.
The court previously heard that Berman contacted emergency services at 1.55pm on March 13, 2025, reporting her husband had been wounded. He was declared dead at their property at 2.39pm.
Prosecutor Michael Brady KC stated it was only afterwards that a senior pathologist was summoned after another medic was “troubled” by the injury, reports the Mirror.
View 4 ImagesDavid Berman was murdered by his wife(Image: Facebook)
Home Office pathologist Dr Philip Lumb determined that the stab wound bore the “typical features of a homicide”. He stated that while not impossible, an accidental fall was “very unlikely to have caused the fatal wound”.
Mr Berman was also discovered to have a “defensive” wound to his finger. The couple’s 27-year marriage had been “loving and mutually supportive”, with no history of domestic violence or police intervention, the court heard. Berman was characterised as a “very supportive and loving wife”.
Prosecutors revealed that relatives of Mr Berman observed peculiar elements in the defendant’s conduct during the days after his passing. “Although there is no set way to respond to and deal with grief in the days following David’s death, members of his family noticed how matter-of-fact and emotionless the defendant was,” prosecutor Michael Brady KC stated.
Mr Brady informed jurors that Berman’s account suggesting her husband’s wound resulted from an accident was initially believed by officers.
The court was told Mr Berman had received a dementia diagnosis, relied on a walking stick and had experienced breathlessness in the 10 days before his death. “However, he had been in the best health his family had seen for some time,” Mr Brady continued.
Earlier on March 13, Mr Berman had spent time with his daughter and great-granddaughter at a play centre. Jurors heard that Berman dialled 999 that afternoon and carried out CPR following guidance from the emergency operator.
View 4 ImagesDaryl Berman is accused of killing her husband(Image: Greater Manchester Police)
The court also heard that when questioned about the incident, Berman responded: “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’s happened.”
The initial paramedic on scene discovered Mr Berman lying on his back on the kitchen floor, jurors were told. Following the arrival of a police officer who spoke with Berman, she reportedly asked him: “You don’t think I’ve murdered him, do you?” Prosecutors revealed the officer had also consulted with Mr Berman’s son, who characterised his father as “clumsy” and “always falling”.
Initially, the death wasn’t deemed suspicious, however a post-mortem examination conducted five days afterwards sparked alarm, the court was told.
Berman was detained on suspicion of murder that same evening. During questioning, she recounted that she and her husband had both eaten lunch in the lounge and that he had volunteered to carry her tray to the kitchen.
She informed police: “And he obviously walked into the kitchen, and I heard what sounded like a stumble or a fall. And straight away I said: ‘Oh my God, David, what’s wrong?’ He said: ‘It’s okay, I’ve slipped.’
“And I sort of almost immediately heard another sort of bang, and a sort of groan. So I got up. I screamed and I ran into the kitchen.
“And I found him face down. He was making the most peculiar sound, I sort of looked down, moved his head a bit. And I thought: ‘What on earth is all this gravy? We don’t have gravy.’ And it was the amount of blood, I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.
View 4 ImagesPolice outside the couple’s home(Image: Manchester Evening News)
“I got the shock of my life because I didn’t know where it was coming from. I just… I just couldn’t understand. And I was screaming, I said: ‘David, David’… I said: ‘You can’t go like this.'”
During her testimony, she became visibly distressed on multiple occasions. When questioned about her reaction upon learning of his death, she responded: “I didn’t know what I was doing. I went into the kitchen on quite a few occasions because I just wanted to be with David.
“I took the sheet off his face and lay down next to him and cradled his head and told him I loved him. I didn’t want to leave him, I wanted to lie next to him. It was the last thing I could do.”
Michael Hayton KC, for the defence, put to Berman: “The suggestion is that you murdered your husband of 27 years, did you?” Berman responded: “Why would I do that to the man I love? No.”
The barrister then questioned: “How do you explain how he came to die?”
Berman stated: “I have absolutely no idea, I wasn’t in the room.”
Article continues below
Berman has been held on remand and faces sentencing on July 3. Sazeeda Ismail, senior Crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, commented: “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.”
Ensure our latest stories always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.