Athena Picture AgencyA woman accused of plotting to kill her husband received a text from her secret lover suggesting she should “smother him in a pillow” and he would “finish it off”.
A month later, Christopher Mills was attacked by two masked men at a caravan he shared with his wife in Cenarth, Carmarthenshire, on 20 September 2024.
Michelle Mills, 46, from Llangennech, Carmarthenshire, is accused of conspiring to murder Mr Mills, with ex-Marine Geraint Berry, 46, from Clydach, Swansea, and another military veteran, Steven Thomas, 47, from Blaengwynfi, Neath Port Talbot. All three deny the charge.
Mrs Mills told police, the messages she and Mr Berry’s shared about Mr Mill’s death were merely “a form of escape”.
At Swansea Crown Court on Monday, the jury heard more about the text messages exchanged between Mrs Mills and Mr Berry – who worked together and had been having an affair for three months.
In one message, Mr Berry mentioned putting sleeping tablets in Mr Mills’ drink. Asked why she had not rebuffed her lover’s suggestion, Mrs Mills told police she “did not want to lose him”.
Last week, Swansea Crown Court heard the pair had exchanged a series of messages about killing Mr Mills, but Mrs Mills has claimed she never meant for her husband to be harmed.
The court heard how she told police officers her husband was “abusive” and “controlling”.
But she claimed the messages she had exchanged with Mr Berry about killing him were purely “a fantasy”.
Another text message sent to Mrs Mills from Mr Berry was read to the court on Monday: “If this carries on, I’m going to kill him,” it said.
In the exchange, Mr Berry asked her if he could “poison” Mr Mills, or “arrange someone to shoot him”, the jury heard.
“I don’t think he would ever act on anything,” she told police in an interview after the attack, describing the messages as “an escape from what was going on at home”.
“I never wanted Chris killed,” she said.
“I just wanted an easier life.”
Fake suicide note
Questioned about a suicide note found in Mr Berry’s pocket after the caravan attack, Mrs Mills told officers Mr Berry had “mentioned making things looks like a suicide”.
The note was found in a sealed white envelope when police apprehended Mr Berry and Mr Thomas hiding in undergrowth near the caravan site on the night of the attack.
The forged letter contained an “apology” from Mr Mills to his wife which included fake admissions of “assault” and “rape”, a police officer told the jury last week.
Mr Mills previously told the court he had “never touched” his wife.
Mrs Mills denied having any involvement with the letter when interviewed by the police.
She said she was sent a link by Mr Berry a month before the attack, asking her to print a copy.
“I just picked it up and gave it to him,” she said.
“I never once expected it to happen. I thought it was all an elaborate fantasy.”
Mrs Mills also denies perverting the course of justice by deleting messages and giving police a false account.
The trial continues.
