Court told Ertan Ersoy wanted 'to kill wife' as defence opens

On Monday, the defence opened their case for Ertan Ersoy, who has admitted manslaughter but denied murdering his wife of eight years, Dr Antonella Castelvedere, in June last year.

The 51-year-old was formally interviewed by two consultant forensic psychologists who submitted their reports to the courts on Sunday.

Dr Frank Farnham, a consultant forensic psychologist for the defence, was called to give evidence in Chelmsford Crown Court on Monday. 

During his appearance he answered questions pertaining to Ersoy’s mental state at the time of Dr Antonella Castelvedere's death.

Many of the questions faced by Dr Farnham came from defence barrister Sarah Elliott KC, who touched upon Ersoy’s attempted suicide as a teenager, the alleged abuse he endured at the hands of his wife, and his pathological jealousy that his wife was having an affair.

The court also heard how Dr Farnham and Dr Raman Deo, the consultant forensic psychologist for the prosecution, disagreed in their conclusion on Ersoy’s mental state.

Incident - the scene in Wickham Road (Image: Newsquest) (Image: Newsquest)

Dr Farnham said: “In my view, Ertan’s abnormality of mental functioning would have impaired his ability to exercise self-control; in Deo’s view, it would not have met that threshold.”

But prosecuting barrister, Christopher Paxman KC, drew particular attention to Ersoy’s telling a friend that he wanted to kill his wife the day before Dr Castelvedere was killed.

A friend of Ersoy’s, Ms Fosker, gave evidence in an earlier hearing when she mentioned Ersoy making the statement on May 31, 2022, and  Mr Paxton questioned why the sentence did not feature in Dr Farnham’s report.

Mr Paxton said: “You made no reference in your report to that comment – you completely ignored it, is that right?

Lecturer - Antonella Castelvedere (Image: University of Suffolk)

“It is said on May 31 – within 24 hours, Dr Castelvedere is murdered.”

But Dr Farnham argued Mr Paxton was looking at the sentence with the bias of hindsight.

He replied: “There could be 999 people saying that same thing and not one person ends up being killed – it’s hindsight bias.

“Obviously, if someone says they are going to kill someone, then the thought is on their mind, but it might be a fleeting thought – you would get it wrong all the time if you thought that thought was actually going to be carried out.”

The trial continues.