'This man didn't just end her life, he ended a part of me'
A heartbroken daughter whose mother was strangled to death spoke of her pain as the culprit was jailed for 14 years.Denise Evans-Wilkinson was killed last April by her ex-husband, fisherman David DeSilva. Her daughter, Danielle Thompson, was just 17 years old at the time.The victim's family still does not know exactly what happened to Ms Evans-Wilkinson, whose body was bound up and thrown in the sea by DeSilva. He has refused to tell them how she died, or what he did with her personal belongings.In a statement described by prosecutor Rory Field as “devastatingly painful prose”, Ms Thompson told the judge who sentenced DeSilva yesterday about her heartache.“The loss of my mother has been a roller-coaster of emotions that do not seem to get better. Since her death I have not been able to go swimming. I have nightmares about my mom's body floating in the water. When I think about how she must have struggled to stay alive, my heart breaks,” she wrote.In the statement, Ms Thompson also spoke of her distress that her mother could not attend her 18th birthday and high school graduation, and will not been there to see her married.“A part of me died with my momma. This man didn't just end her life, but he ended a part of me,” she said. “I am shattered, hurt, and sad. He took my momma and best friend.”Supreme Court heard how DeSilva, 47, developed a jealous obsession with his ex who was a mother-of-four — in the months before her death. Although their brief marriage ended in 2002, he harassed her for sex.Both the killer and his victim were drug addicts, and text messages show he used the offer of drugs to lure her into visiting his Pembroke home before he killed her.Ms Evans-Wilkinson was due to embark on a rehabilitation programme just days after her death.Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons noted during yesterday's sentencing hearing that “as a woman and as a drug addict she was particularly vulnerable”.She told DeSilva: “You knew how to press her buttons.”It is unclear exactly how the victim died before DeSilva wrapped her body up in a tablecloth, tied it with kite string and threw it in the sea. She was found with a broken bone in her neck and her own necklace stuffed down her throat. Her personal belongings have never been found.Forensic tests showed there had been sexual intercourse between her and DeSilva. Mr Field said it was “unlikely” that the victim consented to this, as text messages show she had rejected his advances in the months before her death.DeSilva tried to cover up the killing and according to the judge, this involved “doing some finger pointing at others and misleading the police”.He was eventually caught out when police examined phone records and realised he was lying to them about when he last saw and spoke to the victim.DeSilva was charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the day his trial was due to begin.Defence lawyer Mark Pettingill said DeSilva has hazy memories of the incident, as both he and Ms Evans-Wilkinson were high on crack cocaine at the time. He said DeSilva accidentally killed her during rough sex and the way he treated her body afterwards was a symptom of “horror, revulsion and panic on the part of the defendant”.The victim's sister, Darcelle Nolan, 53, said in a victim impact statement that the lack of information about how and when she died, in addition to the way DeSilva treated her lifeless body, added to the family's pain.Invited to address the judge, DeSilva said: “I was pretty messed up on alcohol and drugs for a long time, but I am deeply sorry for the Evans family in this matter.”As she sentenced him, the judge noted: ”The family may or may not accept the sentence, and it's clear a mere sentence is not going to take away that pain and loss. They will have that for the rest of their lives.”The court heard from Mr Field how DeSilva has a criminal conviction for choking his niece who survived. He was also seen choking Ms Evans-Wilkinson into unconsciousness on a previous occasion.The judge noted: “It would appear that women close to you are at risk of harm from you.”She said that even with his drug addiction, she did not believe “that you would have been so out-of-your-mind-high, that you did not know what you were doing”.The judge ordered that DeSilva must serve at least half of his sentence before parole, and recommended anger management counselling.The families of the defendant and victim both wept in court during the proceedings. Ms Thompson was not present to see her mother's killer jailed, and the rest of the family left court without comment.