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Sally Challen: Abused wife entitled to killed husband's estate
May 27, 2020
An abused woman who won an appeal after killing her controlling husband with a hammer can inherit his estate, a judge has ruled.
Sally Challen, 65, was found guilty of murdering 61-year-old Richard in Surrey and jailed for life in 2011.
She was freed after her conviction was quashed in February last year and prosecutors later accepted her manslaughter plea.
Judge Paul Matthews has now ruled that Mrs Challen can inherit his estate.
He concluded that a rule barring people who kill from inheriting their victim's estate should be waived in Mrs Challen's case.
Image copyright PA Media Image caption Sally Challen had never denied killing her husband in 2010
The judge analysed arguments about Mrs Challen's inheritance claim at a High Court hearing in Bristol earlier this month before announcing his decision.
Mr Challen had left no will and a major asset, the home the Challens shared, had been jointly owned.
Judge Matthews said his decision would mean that Mrs Challen, not the couple's sons, would inherit the estate.
He added: "I emphasise that the facts of this terrible case are so extraordinary, with such a fatal combination of conditions and events, that I would not expect them easily to be replicated in any other."
Image copyright Family handout Image caption Sally and Richard Challen had two sons and had been married for 31 years
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