This is the moment two former soldiers were caught hiding in the bushes after their alleged plot to murder one of their lover’s husbands was foiled.
Michelle Mills, 46, and ex-Royal Marine Geraint Berry, 46, are accused of planning to kill her husband Christopher Mills, 48, in a bid to ‘move forward’ with their three-month affair.
It is claimed the pair wrote a forged suicide letter from Mr Mill’s addressed to ‘Dear Babs’ – his nickname for her – with fake admissions of assault and rape.
In some 2,301 messages sent between them, Mills and Berry discussed smothering Mr Mills with a pillow, putting foxgloves in his salad or even putting anti-freeze in his gravy.
They eventually settled on Berry and another former solider, Steven Thomas, 47, killing Mr Mills in a fake armed raid on the couple’s caravan in Cenarth, Carmarthenshire, in September last year.
However, the plot was foiled when two men were forced to flee the caravan after they were both overpowered by Mr Mills as they attempted to kill him, the court heard.
Crime scene pictures from inside the caravan shown to the jury revealed balaclavas, cable ties and gas masks that were left behind by the two men when they ran away. They were also shown two imitation handguns that had also been left behind.
Footage taken from a police helicopter shows Berry and Thompson hiding in the bushes nearby before they were arrested.
The fake suicide note, released by the CPS, read: ‘I’m really sorry for everything I have done to you ie laying my hands on you when I have been drinking a lot of alcohol every day…
Michelle Mills (left), 46, and ex-Royal Marine Geraint Berry, 46, are accused of planning to kill her husband Christopher Mills (right), 48, in a bid to ‘move forward’ with their three-month affair
In some 2,301 messages sent between them, Mills and Berry discussed smothering Mr Mills with a pillow, putting foxgloves in his salad or even putting anti-freeze in his gravy (Pictured: Geraint Berry)
Footage taken from a police helicopter shows Berry and Thompson hiding in the bushes nearby before they were arrested
‘I’m not happy with what I have done to you Babs ie beating you and raping you and I shouldn’t have done that to.
‘By the time you get this letter I will be gone because I can’t live with myself cause every time I look at you I can see I have hurt you.’
A sealed white envelope – which the jury heard was a forged suicide note addressed to Mrs Mills from her husband – was found in Mr Berry’s pocket.
Swansea Crown Court heard the murder plot plan was carried out just weeks after a life insurance policy from Help 4 Heroes came into effect for Mr Mills – making his wife the 100 per cent beneficiary of the £124,000 payout.
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees KC said ‘jealous’ Berry became ‘more and more graphic’ in messages about killing Mr Mills after his lover was ‘stoking the fire’.
The court heard Mills told Berry her husband had tried to sexually touch her and was even ‘holding her against her will’ – but she denied it was an attempt to ‘provoke’ him.
Mr Rees said: ‘Michelle Mills and Geraint Berry had embarked on a secret sexual relationship which, on Geraint Berry’s part at least, had become increasingly intense.
‘Berry, encouraged on by Michelle Mills, had become increasingly occupied by hostile thoughts about Christopher Mills.’
The court heard Berry vowed to put Mr Mills ‘in the f***ing ground’ in messages while also saying he would ‘make it look like suicide’.
The messages revealed Mills texted her lover Berry following the attack to tell him to get away from the scene and added: ‘Delete all communications on both phones’.
She then said ‘I will not say a word’ while Berry and Thomas fled the scene after being fought off by 20-stone Mr Mills inside the caravan.
Berry and Thomas gave themselves up after hiding in the bushes – and officers found the fake suicide note, gasmasks with filter canisters, cable ties, pliers, cloths and a telescopic gun sight in their rucksacks.
Steven Thomas (pictured), 47, is said to have joined Berry as his accomplice during the fake raid they had planned in a plot to kill Mr Mills
Berry and accomplice Thomas were in such a rush to leave after being overpowered by Mr Mills that they left their imitation weapons behind, the court was told
Berry’s murder kit also included two gas masks, the court was told, and was found in a rucksack
Two imitation handguns were also shown in court after husband Mr Mills managed to fight off Berry and alleged accomplice Steven Thomas, 47, before they fled
Balaclavas were also recovered that were said to be part of Berry’s ‘kill kit’
All three defendants deny plotting to murder Christopher Mills (pictured outside Swansea Crown Court)
Mills claimed she believed the plan was ‘fantasy’ and only ever intended on divorcing her husband.
She said: ‘There was no plan to kill my husband. It was all part of a fantasy with Gaz.
‘We had no plan to kill Christopher. All we wanted to do was for me to be safe. To leave Chrstopher, get a divorce and go from there.
‘It was an escape from reality. It was not planned and it was not wanted.’
Mr Mills said he had ‘no idea’ his wife was having an affair and arrested following the masked attack when she made claims of domestic violence against him – which he denied.
He said: ‘It was a massive shock but the first time it came to my attention was the following day. I was arrested. At that instant I realised then that Michelle was involved. My heart sank.’
The court heard Mr Mills denied every being violent towards his wife – and said: ‘I have never laid a finger on her.’
He added: ‘I have done nothing to Michelle. As far as I was concerned we had a happy marriage. We had new passports and we were saving up to go on holiday.’
Berry, 46, of Clydach, Swansea Valley, Thomas, 47, of Blaengwinfi, Afan Valley, and Ethel Michelle Mills, of Llanelli, all denied conspiracy to murder.
The jury were sent out late this afternoon to start considering their verdicts and are due back in the morning.
