Father kills ex-wife at son’s grave 20 years after his death. His confession reveals decades-old nightmare that made him seek revenge

Martin Suter, the 68-year-old man who waited five hours at a cemetery to murder his ex-wife, Ann Blackwood, has been jailed for a minimum of 27 years and 230 days. You can’t imagine the sheer horror of planning a crime like this. Suter previously pleaded guilty to the murder of 71-year-old Ms. Blackwood, which took place in July 2023 at Crofton Cemetery in Stubbington, Hampshire.

The premeditation here is genuinely chilling. Suter, who is from Lee-on-the-Solent, waited for approximately five hours at the graveside, ensuring he was there when Ms. Blackwood arrived on her bicycle. The timing of the attack is particularly heartbreaking. It happened on July 24, which would have been the 36th birthday of their son, Christopher.

Ms. Blackwood was visiting the grave of Christopher, who died by suicide in 2003 when he was just 15 years old. She had brought scissors to trim the flowers she planned to put on his grave, but Suter used them in the attack. Prosecutor Robert O’Sullivan KC detailed the incredibly brutal method Suter used in court, per the BBC. It’s not the first murder of a spouse (albeit former) but it’s always shocking to see a family killing.

A dad blamed his ex-wife for his son’s suicide

Suter initially stabbed Ms. Blackwood in the back with a kitchen knife. When that blade broke off with the first blow, he didn’t stop. He grabbed the scissors she had brought for the flowers and repeatedly stabbed her in the neck. The motive Suter offered was decades of intense resentment tied directly to their son’s death.

Suter confessed to the crime right there at the graveside, calling 999 himself and blaming Ms. Blackwood for Christopher’s suicide. He claimed his life had been ruined by her actions. When members of the public spotted the victim on the ground and tried to intervene, Suter was utterly direct. He replied, “No, she’s dead – I killed her. I called the police. It’s been 40 years. I couldn’t take it any more.” The couple had divorced the year after their son’s death in 2004.

This tragedy has obviously shattered a lot of lives. Ann Blackwood’s brother, John Blackwood, shared a powerful victim’s personal statement in court. He emphasized that his sister was the “hub of the family… affable, inoffensive” and had many friends. The barrister reading the statement noted that her “shocking and brutal death has sorely impacted many people. The family hub has been splintered in the most grotesque manner possible.” Additionally, a friend named Catherine Jay paid tribute to Ms. Blackwood, calling her a “loyal friend, devoted mother and vibrant presence.”

Imposing the life sentence, Judge Michael Bowes KC did not mince words about the sheer cruelty of the act. He told Suter, “You brutally murdered Ann Blackwood in the most cruel and agonising way you could.”

We also learned Suter had other legal issues shortly before the murder. Just a couple of months earlier, on May 11, 2023, Suter pleaded guilty in a separate case to indecently assaulting a girl under the age of 14. Judge Bowes imposed a four-month sentence for that charge, which was added to the 27 years and 109 days Suter received for the murder conviction. Ann Blackwood was pronounced dead at the cemetery.