Pianist ‘strangled and beaten to death by her husband on their anniversary’

A concert pianist was strangled and beaten to death by her husband after he became jealous of her musical success, a court heard today.

Double bass player John Martin is accused of murdering Natalia Strelchenko on the couple’s second wedding anniversary following a string of furious arguments.

Rob Hall, prosecuting, said:

‘This is quite simply a case of anger. Pure and simple anger. This defendant was not getting what he wanted and reached a point where he lost his temper in a very dramatic fashion.’

Describing her injuries, he said:

‘The blows inflicted upon Natalia Strelle by this defendant were of such severe force and of such number that her central and left-sided facial bones were left free floating from the rest of her skull.’Her jawbone was snapped in half and indeed, in addition to that, other parts of her skull were severely fractured.’Even though she was rushed to hospital soon after that assault, she was declared dead about a hour after.’

Martin, 48, who is originally from Norway, denies the murder and the manslaughter of his wife.