In many ways, jealousy is one of the most powerful emotions, especially when it's rooted in love. Love can cause us to be our best and worst selves all at once. We will jealously guard the love we possess and those who are worthy of it. And more importantly, we will jealously protect the love that we perceive belongs to us.
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Bearing all this in mind, it's not hard to understand the motives behind the following story. It's a tale of love and of loss, or revenge and bitter jealousy, and the consequences for living a life governed by those baser urges…
Volatile Couple
Martin and Sophie were never the most "loving" of couples, at least not outwardly anyway. If you asked them, they'd say that they were in fact in love, they just loved each other in a more volatile way than your average married couple. Married since September 2011, their fractious relationship had come to a head within a few short years.
Separate Lives
By that we mean that the pair had finally decided to live separately, though they did see and speak to one another with a fair bit of regularity. Nevertheless, living separate lives did little to improve their volatility and it seemed that two years into the arrangement, Sophie was ready to call the thing quits for good and get a divorce.
Needing Her
This news evidently didn't sit well with Martin. He began to devolve into even more jealousy and anger. Every interaction he had with Sophie was demeaning or unpleasant. He even offered her money for sex at one point, stating, "I want to have you one last final time." Some may have considered the offer flattering; Sophie did not.
Gone Out
Nevertheless, Sophie and Martin soon reconciled, at least partially. They began going out with friends, trying to preserve what they had in some small way. One afternoon, they went on a date to Wingham Wildlife Park and followed it up with a night at the pub with friends. Those who saw them that night described them as being "in good spirits." They didn't see the truth.
Gone Home
As far as some witnesses know, Sophie and Martin went home together that night. Whether they were going to their separate houses afterward or if they planned on spending the night together, no one can be sure. The next morning, Sophie was not at her home. Instead, her dead body was lying cold inside Martin's flat.
Found Her
Sophie never got home the night of her final "date" with her estranged husband, and every clue surrounding her body pointed to his involvement. She was discovered dead, wrapped with her feet sticking out from a quilt on a makeshift bed in his apartment. A note on a nearby board read, "she deserved it." Martin himself was nowhere to be found.
He Knew
At around 7 pm that day, Martin Cavanagh visited his mother's house. He met his sister-in-law there. She was livid and her face was streaming with tears. Unsure what to do, he asked her if she knew what had happened. When she said yes, he tried to claim that the two had an "argument" and that he "didn't know" what happened afterward.
In the Shed
Martin looked down at his own feet and told her, "my life is over," then left before the police could be called. The ensuing manhunt was unsuccessful. Apparently, he'd been hiding in his mother's shed for a time after the discussion. In the end, it didn't matter, as he handed himself into the police station the next day. But why had he killed Sophie? Why had she deserved to die?
Desperation
Apparently, jealousy and desperation had gotten the better of Martin Cavanagh. Even as he went around with his soon-to-be-ex wife, he knew that the end was nigh. He couldn't believe it was happening and what was worse, he was sure that she was stepping out with someone else. There was another man in his wife's life.
Jealous Man
Martin had been controlling, jealous and possessive for all the years they were together. So it was no surprise that he was concerned she might be lavishing her affections on someone else. As far as he was concerned, even living apart didn't preclude her loving him. It was this attitude that he kept welling up inside him even as they drank together.
Alleged Crime
An investigation at the crime scene revealed the truth. The 35-year-old man had, in a moment of rage and passion, apparently throttled his 31-year-old wife at his flat in Bromley. Whether or not they had sex before or after the altercation has not been revealed, but Sophie was naked when police found her.
The Grisly Details
The case went to trial. Regardless of the fact that he turned himself in, Martin refused to admit that he had anything to do with the murder. Even as the grisly details were revealed, he kept to his initial plea of not guilty. His denial of the horrendous act was so strong that even faced with incontrovertible evidence, he remained staunch in his assertion.
Never Admitted It
Dawn Larkin, Sophie's half-sister, was present at the trial. She recalled how angry she felt as he continually denied his crimes. Because of this, the trial had to be brought to a logical conclusion. "All of this could have been spared us if he had admitted what he had done, but he chose to keep up the charade until the end," she told The Sun.
Loving Person
Dawn Larkin was invited up to speak on behalf of the family in a victim impact statement prior to the sentencing. She described Sophie as a "beautiful, loving person who would do no one any harm…Our lives will never be the same again and nothing will fill the void. Sophie's mother was also allowed to speak.
Never the Same
"Since losing my daughter Sophie, my whole life has changed, it's like there is a big, black hole – I can no longer phone her or see her, which I miss desperately," said the mother. She also spoke about how her sister Lucy had lost a sister and a best friend all in one. All they had left was their memories.
Jury's Out
When the victims had spoken and the police and lawyers had given their account of the deeds, the jury was invited to deliberate. It wasn't exactly a difficult case, mind you. Martin had all but signed the body himself when he left it in his flat and left the note. Still, the system had to be observed before punishment could be meted out.
Sixteen Years Away
In the end, all his denial came to naught. Martin Cavanagh was found guilty by a jury of his peers. The presiding judge, Michael Grieve QC, stood and delivered the verdict. Martin would be going away for life, to serve at least 16 years before being considered for parole, and that wasn't all he had to say.
The Sole Cause
Judge Michael Grieve QC told Martin that he had "inflicted a life sentence of suffering" on Sophie's family and upon her children. He added that Martin's method of murder was even more unnecessarily tragic than it needed to be, especially for someone so loved by her family and friends; someone who had most of her life still ahead of her.
Deprived Them
The judge chided him for his jealous ways as well. "You could not let go of Sophie emotionally and kept a close eye on other relationships she might be forming, on occasions interfering in order to frustrate them," he accused, adding that his actions have deprived Sophie's children of ever knowing their mother.
The Power of Jealousy
Martin Cavanagh allowed jealousy to dictate his entire life and relationship with Sophie and in the end, all it did was destroy both of them. Perhaps now, as he sits in prison, he will have time to think about the true cost of jealousy and the love that he might have earned back if only he learned to share her with the world.