A devastated woman whose sister was raped and drowned in bathtub has warned her killer ‘will strike again’ as she begs the parole board to keep him behind bars amid his pending release.
Jean Whitfield was brutally attacked and murdered by rapist Michael Wade in 1999, after allowing him into her home in Gateshead, near Newcastle.
He had only been released from prison months prior to the attack, but vulnerable Jean who weighed just seven stone and suffered with arthritis was no match for Wade’s strength and brutality.
When her partner Dennis Fallon headed to work on August 5, 1999, the killer subjected the 42-year-old to a horrifying ordeal.
After beating and raping Jean, he drowned her body in her home’s bathtub, with Mr Fallon later discovering her lifeless body submerged in the water.
The cold-hearted attacker was thrown behind bars for life and told to serve a minimum sentence of 20 years locked up over his atrocities.
But parole board chiefs have now decided he is safe to be released back on to the streets – a choice which has concerned the victim’s family.
Speaking to The Sun, Jean’s sister, Joan Robinson, 62, heart-breakingly said: ‘He took Jean’s life and he has ruined mine – and now they want to give him a second chance?’
Jean Whitfield was brutally attacked and murdered by rapist Michael Wade in 1999, after allowing him into her home in Gateshead, near Newcastle
Wade denied rape and murder in 1999, but a jury at Teesside Crown Court found him guilty following a trial
Jean’s sister, Joan, pictured, described having nightmares about the killer appearing on her doorstep as he knows where she works
The Parole Board heard how Wade displayed ‘anti-social and paranoid behaviour’ at the time of Jean’s murder, and claimed he found ‘intimate relationships’ difficult and ‘bore grudges, had a low tolerance for frustration and would be quick to show aggression and anger’.
Wade denied rape and murder in 1999, but a jury at Teesside Crown Court found him guilty following a trial.
Nevertheless, 25 years later, parole bosses approved his fourth application for release, meaning he could be allowed back onto the streets as early as next year.
Their defence is that the killer has completed programmes to tackle his sexual offending and alcohol problems in prison.
All the professional witnesses who gave evidence to the panel encouraged that Wade should be released.
A hearing summary concluded: ‘The panel considered the circumstances of his offending, the progress made while in custody and the evidence presented.
‘The panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public.’
But now, Joan is urging women to remain cautious, should her sister’s killer be freed.
Wade battered and raped the vulnerable mum before drowning her in her own bath
She said : ‘For years, I’ve lived with the trauma of what he did to her, and the thought of him being out in the world again is sickening. How can they put someone like him back into society?,’ adding that the decision would be a betrayal to all women and girls.
‘Leopards don’t change their own spots. He’s a monster who will kill again,’ she added.
The worried sister has written a letter to the parole board in a desperate do to stop Wade from being released, recalling how the trauma of Jean’s murder made her have thoughts about taking her own life.
She described having nightmares about the killer appearing on her doorstep as he knows where she works.
Speaking to the newspaper, Joan raised concerns about the parole board’s decision to release him due to the fact he had attended counselling, as he had no ‘temptations’ including women and alcohol during his stint in prison.
‘When he’s out on the streets, free, he’ll be like a kid in a sweet shop,’ she warned, urging women to stay vigilant as he ‘might turn up in a pub and start talking to women’ who will have no idea about his past.
If he is to be released, the heartbroken sister said she wants an updated image of him plastered around the area so people are aware of his violent history, and to ensure the safety of other women.
