True Crime With Caledonian Kitty : Murdered Over A Bag Of Chips

(Yvonne McCann. Picture credit: Daily Mail)

This week I am bringing you another case from the UK, a recent one and this time it's not the wife who's responsible for the death of her partner, it is the husband who is at fault this time and what a shocking case this one is.

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So, let's get into this shocking true crime story which takes place in a town called Brinnington, Stockport (England). Thomas and Yvonne had met each other as kids and became childhood sweethearts. The pair were inseparable and always seemed to be like two peas in a pod. Fast forward 32 years, they had eventually married and spent 24 of those 32 years married and for a long time things were great, they were like soulmates and best friends, they did everything together and had 3 children.

In recent years however, the kids had grown up and flew the nest which left them both together for the majority of the time that Thomas wasn't at work. Thomas had a job as a truck driver, the hours could be stressful and he could spend long periods of time away from home but they needed the money and Yvonne understood this. Having what she thought was a solid marriage, Yvonne was soon shocked and heartbroken to discover that Thomas had been unfaithful to her. They managed to patch things up but deep down there was a sense that Yvonne never quite forgave him and felt that the trust in their relationship had lowered.

With the stress of Thomas's job and the thoughts of his affair in the back of Yvonne's mind, it was understandable that things between the pair had been pretty tense. Yvonne's confidence had taken a bit of a knock and it didn't take long until she started enjoying the attention that came from another man.

The marriage between Thomas and Yvonne had run it's course, possibly years before but they stayed together because it was comfortable for them both and they both had deep insecurities. Yvonne felt that Thomas didn't notice her anymore and no doubt he felt the same way. Yvonne continued to see this man behind Thomas's back and when he found out, all hell broke loose.

Given that they'd been together for so long and knew each other inside out they somehow managed to keep things together after this crisis but Thomas had changed, he'd become more suspicious, more possessive and more jealous.

The arguments between the pair got worse and at this point it is a wonder why they were even still married. They both existed in the same house but didn't get on the majority of the time.

One Saturday morning on the 23rd of May 2020 the couple were snapping at each other over silly things and the neighbours could hear everything that was going on. It was 9am and the pair were screaming so much that the neighbour actually texted Yvonne to see if everything was ok. Yvonne replied back that they were just having a stupid argument over frozen chips.

It seemed that the fight over the frozen chips was the straw that broke the camel's back for Thomas because he chased after his wife and trapped her in the bathroom where he proceeded to strangle her.

[Just a warning that I'm about to share some disturbing details]

Once he strangled his wife and there was no pulse, he bundled her body into the bath tub and went in search of a knife and a tree lopper before coming back to the bathroom. There he began cutting up his wife's body, the woman he had known for over 30 years and the mother of his children. In another sickening fact in this case, it was later revealed that Thomas had been texting his children in between dismembering his wife's corpse. He was using Yvonne's phone pretending to be her.

After he had done cutting up the body, he began placing the remains into black trash bags. He was captured on CCTV footage carrying these bags to a skip, a council tip and a park where he dumped them before returning home empty handed.

The children and family were led to believe that Yvonne and Thomas just had an argument and she just took off. He told everyone that the last time he had seen her she had been going to see that other man she'd had the affair with. It was common knowledge that the pair had troubles in their marriage so it wasn't too suspicious until the moment one of the children found their mother's rings and phone in their Dad's pocket.

Some dog walkers had discovered some of Yvonne's remains and went to the police and Thomas was pulled into the station for questioning, he was interviewed at least three times before he gave in and confessed. He said he was like Hannibal Lecter and just could not stop. He pleaded guilty for the murder of his wife.

Investigators did their best to find all of Yvonne's remains but could only find around 50%.

Thomas wrote a letter expressing how sorry he was for what he had done and that he hoped his children could one day forgive him. Their daughter spoke on behalf of the other children and said how extremely difficult this had been for them and how they loved their mother so much but that they also loved their father too.

Thomas was portrayed in court as a man who was of good character up until that point. They believed that there had not been a history of violence (In my personal opinion, I find that hard to believe. A lot of domestic violence incidences go unreported and considering what he did to his wife and the lying he did afterwards says a lot about his character) and seemed to believe that this was a one off, unpremeditated incident.

Thomas McCann was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 12 years and 182 days.

It was later revealed that shortly after he began his sentence for the brutal murder of his wife, he wrote a letter to an ex-mistress of his begging her to write to him. He told the woman that he ''put her to sleep'', meaning his wife and said that he couldn't let go of feelings about Yvonne and only killed her because she kept rubbing her affair in his face.

(Thomas McCann. Picture credit: Daily Mail)

This was another shocking case to cover especially in the light of the recent murder of Gabby Petito (the 22 year old woman who had been on a road trip with her fiance who had reportedly assaulted her. She was later found dead and he went on the run) and the R Kelly case (where women were reportedly held against their will, forced into sexual slavery and beaten if they didn't do as he ordered). Gabby had known her partner since high school and obviously felt she could trust him. There are so many cases I could give as examples with both abusive male and female partners but that is for another post that I will be covering in the future.

Just goes to show (as with my previous case) you could be married to someone for years and still not know them or what they are capable of. I do believe that there is red flags there though, for a man to react so violently like that over chips (sure he had been stewing over the affair and other things but all he had to do was walk out and get a divorce) and he didn't just kill his wife by strangulation (that is very up close and personal to do that, to choke the life out of someone) he cut her body into pieces and threw her remains away like trash and lied about it.

This man (look who I'm calling a man) had the ability to disrespect the mother of his children, the woman he had known for over 30 years, affair or no affair, where is the humanity? And he went to a barbecue like nothing happened, telling people she just walked out on him. It's sickening.

What are your thoughts on this case? Please leave them below I would love to hear your thoughts.

RIP Yvonne (or as her friends and family often called her, ''Von'')

Further Reading & Sources:

- Thomas McCann: Article | Daily Mail

- Thomas McCann Trial | Manchester Evening News

- Thomas McCann Article | BBC News

- Thomas McCann Article | Mirror

- Thomas McCann Article | The Guardian

- Thomas McCann | Greater Manchester Police