Gay husband plots to kill his wife three times

After putting mice in his wife's car to scare her into an accident, Michael Ratley set fire to the house, but the neighbors arrived so quickly that he had to rush into the fire to save her.

Michael RatleyEffie and Michael met by chance when her car broke down and Michael stopped to help. They fell in love and started dating. A year and a half later they got married, but only "went together" for 3 months before divorcing. Less than a year later, they remarried, living in a mobile home next to Michael's parents' house in Bryceville, Florida, USA. Some time later, Effie gave birth to a baby boy, Aiden.

A few weeks after the joy of welcoming a new member to their family, disaster began to strike. One night in December 2006, their house suddenly caught fire. Michael quickly got Aiden out but Effie was trapped inside. Michael broke a window to rescue Effie. No one was injured but their house was damaged to the point of being uninhabitable. The cause of the fire was determined to be an electrical system failure, a faulty smoke detector.

They moved in with Michael's parents. Effie was assigned a room on the first floor. Everyone helped Michael's family stabilize their lives after the accident. However, about a month later, disaster struck again.

Pink wife Effie.

Michael told police that he was sleeping with his son in the living room when he heard noises in his wife's bedroom. He went in and checked, finding the window open and his wife lying on the bed with multiple injuries. Effie was rushed to the emergency room in a very critical condition.

Police determined she had been struck seven times in the head with a blunt object, causing severe damage to her skull. Images of the skull showed the brutality of the attack. Four days later, doctors declared the damage too severe and Effie died.

According to the police, the killer entered and escaped through Effie's bedroom window while everyone was sleeping. Outside, they found the glass had been cut. Inside, Effie's blood was splattered on the wall next to the bed. Michael's parents said they did not hear any noise until Michael woke them up.

The night before the incident, Michael said he discovered someone trying to break into his house and was attacked while checking around. Michael said he was knocked out on the spot and did not have time to see the stranger clearly.

Authorities say a woman was raped in her home about 40 miles away at the same time. A week earlier, a woman was attacked at a convenience store.

The police suspected the attacks were carried out by the same person. But they found something unusual when the killer entered Effie’s room. It was a cold and foggy night, but they found no trace in the garden or in the bedroom. A laundry basket lay in front of the window, the dust on the window frame seemed undisturbed.

The possibility of robbery was also ruled out because the purse by the window was still intact. He also had no intention of sexually assaulting Effie. Investigators found a DVD player, a bottle of lubricant, and several gay adult movies in the closet.

The police became suspicious of Michael and Effie's relationship. They speculated that Michael was having an affair with another man and wanted to get away from his wife. When they checked Michael's phone, they found that he was in regular contact with a 35-year-old high school teacher.

Michael's friends said he often said unkind things about his wife. He even said he hated her and was incapable of raising their children. Michael's mother said that one time Effie's car was stuffed with a rat, which shevery scared. almostEffiehad an accident due to being startled and scared. In addition, Effie had a $150,000 insurance policy and Michael was the beneficiary.

Michael's sister, who lived across the street, also heard no strange noises that night. She and Effie kept eight hunting dogs in a small yard, and two were free-roaming. There was no barking at the time of the incident.

Hung at the time of the crime.

Reconstructing the crime scene, focusing on the blood stains, the police concluded that the blood had been splattered all over the killer. They examined the coat Michael was wearing at the time, but found no traces, nor in the house. However, in Michael's car, the police discovered a compartment in the back seat containing a hammer, a paper cutter, a burnt piece of electrical wire, pieces of toilet paper with blood on them, and several rubber gloves and work gloves.

The electrical cord was from the couple’s previous mobile home. The blood on the hammer was Effie’s and matched the shape of her head wound. The blood on the toilet paper was also Effie’s. The police found no trace on the work gloves. Michael also said he was shocked to see them in his car and that someone had put them there to harm him. However, when the police tested the rubber gloves, they found Michael’s DNA inside.

With solid evidence found, the husband had to confess. Everything gradually became clear.

According to CNN, Michael planned to kill Effie more than once. The first time, he put rats in Effie's car so that she would be scared and cause an accident on the road. The second time, he damaged the fire alarm and then set fire to the house. The husband took the baby outside and left Effie inside. However, because people around arrived very quickly, he had to act out a ruse to save Effie by breaking the glass door. The third time, he pretended to be attacked by a stranger and then did it the next night...

On the night of the crime, January 27, 2007, Ratley had cut a screen to cover Effie's bedroom window. After his wife fell asleep, he took off his robe and put on gloves... to commit the crime. He wiped the blood off with toilet paper and put on his robe again.Ratleyhid the evidence in the car and then pretended to shout to report...

Ratley said he wanted towant to end the marriage but do not want to divorce because of fear of having to support the child until the age of 18.Ratleycharged with first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.

According to VNE