The Gruesome Way A Man Used His Car In An Act Of Revenge
Not all marriages are built of the materials that make them last. And though divorces are common in the modern era, many are seemingly handled with at least a surface-level amount of poise and dignity, sparing friends and family members of the drama that often occurs when a serious relationship has crumbled into disrepair.
Not so in the case of 54-year-old Gerald Mellin and his 33-year-old wife, Mirrielle. After a long and bitter divorce proceeding, the couple was still in and out of court, fighting over spousal maintenance amounts being adjusted. The Daily Mail reported in 2008 that the couple had been blissfully wed in 2002, only to have it end in a 2007 split. Mirrielle was given the couple's luxury home in Crumlin, South Wales, during the proceedings, along with monthly support payments.
Apparently, this arrangement did not sit well with Mellin. After learning that the judge awarded his estranged wife an additional amount in spousal support in 2008, he put together a horrific plan to ruin her financially and take his own life in the process.
Mellin used his Aston Martin convertible and a rope to meet his grisly end
Mellin owned a combination gym and tanning salon, where he had employed Mirrielle as a beautician. After their marriage soured, Mellin kept the business going but during a conversation with Mirrielle expressed his desire to sell it. Citing reasons his accountant had given him, he approached her about the possibility of a sale so that debts could be paid off. According to Wales Online, she claimed that "He wanted me to walk away from the farmhouse and the business and leave me with nothing." She believed he ran up an "extortionate amount of debt" in an act of revenge against her so that she would lose the home. But his idea for revenge didn't end there.
After the hearing, the estranged couple met at a local pub where Mellin opened the trunk of his Aston Martin to show her a rope he had purchased. Explaining that Mellin had threatened suicide multiple times in the past without any action, Mirrielle thought that this was just a ploy for attention. She told him to "grow up" and demanded the rope, to which she was met with his laughter.
After the modified financial award was granted to Mirrielle, Gerald sent her a text message that read "Congratulations XXX," the last contact she would have with him. Gerald took the rope he had shown her and securely tied it to a tree. He then climbed aboard his vehicle, looping the other end of the rope around his neck.
His estranged wife believes that he intentionally generated debt to punish her
Connected to a strong tree with the rope, Mellin accelerated his Aston Martin DB7 convertible down a busy street in Swansea until the rope tightened all the way around his neck. The force of the vehicle's movement caused him to be decapitated. A detective for the police department revealed that Mellin had been treated for depression at the time of his suicide. The coroner's inquest stated that there were anti-depressants in Mellin's system when he died, along with low amounts of alcohol. The detective, Ceri John, stated that Mellin "had made a deliberate and concerted effort to end his own life in a manner most unusual" (per Wales Online).
One eyewitness came forward and described what she saw shortly after midnight on the evening of September 14, 2008. Mellin's vehicle caught the eye of Alison Anniah, mostly because "it was going so slowly." She continued "As the car passed us I saw the body had no head."
The suicide left Mirrielle in pretty bad financial shape. She was forced to sell both the home and the business to pay off the debts that he had incurred. She felt as though his financial missteps were a deliberate attempt to sabotage her. "Gerald created the debt because he always said if I left him he would leave me with nothing," she maintained. Adding insult to injury was the news that Mellin had canceled his life insurance policy shortly before his suicide, of which Mirrielle had been the primary beneficiary.