72-Year-Old Woman Sentenced to Life for Killing Husband in Manchester Jewish Community

A 72-year-old woman, Darryl Berman, was convicted of murdering her 84-year-old husband, David Berman, a well-known member of Manchester's Jewish community. The killing occurred on March 13, 2025, at their home in Prestwich, Greater Manchester, where she stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Despite initial claims that her husband had slipped and fallen, a post-mortem revealed fatal stab wounds, disproving her accident narrative.

Emergency responders found David Berman lying in a pool of blood in the kitchen; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Darryl Berman was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years before eligibility for parole. The first trial ended without a verdict due to jury deadlock, but in the retrial, she was found guilty by an 11-1 jury vote.

Judge Tina Landale noted that while Darryl appeared devoted to her husband, the events leading to the stabbing remain unclear. She emphasized that Darryl never provided a truthful account and likely lost control, resulting in the fatal attack. Detective Inspector Alex Wilkinson of Greater Manchester Police described the victim as an elderly man who should have spent his final years in peace but was instead brutally killed by someone he trusted.

David Berman had recently been diagnosed with dementia, and his death shocked both his family and the local Jewish community. The police hope the sentence brings some measure of justice to the bereaved family.