Shropshire woman guilty of murdering her estranged husband

A woman has been convicted of murdering her estranged husband following an argument.

Amy Pugh, 34, of Stafford Road in Wolverhampton, killed 32-year-old Kyle Pugh at her previous home in Newport, Shropshire, in March 2022 and then tried to cover up her crime.

She told emergency services he had taken his own life, but following a six week trial, jurors at Stafford Crown Court found her guilty.

She is due to be sentenced at the same court on 5 September.

The trial was told the couple had a “volatile, turbulent and abusive” relationship and they had separated at the time of the attack.

Jurors heard the pair had an argument at the house on Aston Drive just after 20:30 on 22 March, over his girlfriend’s pregnancy.

The argument became violent and it resulted in Mr Pugh becoming unresponsive.

But Det Insp Jo Delahay said: “Rather than calling for help once Pugh realised Kyle was no longer responsive, she took extreme measures to ensure no one would ever be able to link his death back to her.”

She made several calls to her father before calling the emergency services 20 minutes after the fight.

When she called, she told them he had hanged himself and in a call could be heard shouting: “Kyle, wake up, why have you done this?”

The trial heard that while Mr Pugh did have a history of self-harm and attempts to take his own life, he had sent messages to his girlfriend, his father and his friends that evening making plans to see them that night.

Mr Pugh was taken to the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, but died there the following day.

A postmortem examination showed Mr Pugh had suffered neck compression injuries.

Det Insp Delahay said it had been a “tragic case” which had caused “tremendous upset to Kyle’s family.

She said Pugh “used Kyle’s mental health history to manipulate and lie to his loved ones, as well as authorities, all to protect herself and through the whole investigation she has shown no remorse for her actions that day”.

In November 2024, Pugh was also found guilty of arson, for setting fire to Mr Pugh’s workshop in Newport in October 2021.

West Mercia Police said that whilst the workshop burnt down she sent Mr Pugh videos of the fire whilst singing Ring of Fire.

She was given a 19-month sentence suspended for two years for that offence.