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Audio of 999 call from Rebecca Searing - 'I've stabbed my husband'
A woman who stabbed her husband to death in bed has been jailed for life.
Rebecca Searing, 52, killed her husband Paul, 57, at their home in Ryecroft, Harlow, Essex shortly before 02:15 GMT on 12 February.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard Searing had sent a message to someone saying "it's time to kill" and called 999, admitting she stabbed him.
She was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in jail after being found guilty of murder following a nine-day trial.
Judge Christopher Morgan said on the night of the killing, the defendant, who had been drinking, helped her husband upstairs when he returned from the pub.
Shortly before 02:30 she took a knife from the kitchen and went back upstairs where she stabbed him as he lay in bed, the court heard.
The judge said Searing had later said: "Tonight I took my chance."
He said the defendant's husband had "presented no threat" and "in all probability he was asleep".
Searing had suggested that her husband called her "worthless" or "useless", he added.
"At whatever stage, those words were no justification for what you were to do later on," said the judge.
A blood-stained knife was found at the couple's home and while in custody Searing was said to have asked an officer, "I am gonna get 25 years for this, aren't I?".
Prosecutor Allan Compton QC read a statement from Mr Searing's sister Karen Krokou, in which she said he was "happy-go-lucky and football mad".
Mr Searing, who had children, was an "exceptionally loyal man, caring, warm and kind", Ms Krokou added.
She said of Mrs Searing: "She may have been a good nurse but that doesn't make her a good person."
Sasha Wass QC, mitigating, said the married couple had a "complex relationship" and that Mrs Searing still loved her husband.
She added their relationship had "involved regular domestic violence".
Searing was convicted following a trial last month.
Det Insp Lydia George, of Essex Police, said: "Rebecca Searing took Paul's life in a moment of extreme violence.
"This case highlights how quickly incidents of domestic violence can escalate and how serious the consequences can be."
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