Granddad who stabbed his estranged partner to death when she tried to sell their home is jailed for life
THE couple, who had two children as well as two young grandkids, lived together but led separate lives
A JEALOUS granddad stabbed his estranged partner to death after she tried to force through the sale of the home they had shared for 36 years.
Ron Bacon, 64, was jailed for life today for killing Tracy Goodwin, the mother of his two children.
The couple had split after Tracy had an affair with a swimming coach - but she moved back to the family home a year later.
From then the former couple, who had two grown up children, Alan and Hayley, as well as two young grandchildren, began to live separate lives.
A court heard how former Royal Mail engineer Bacon lay in wait for 56-year-old Tracy before knifing her 13 times after she arrived home from work.
He had become angry when Ms Goodwin began to force through the sale of their house in Kidbrooke, South London, jurors heard.
Bacon had become increasingly worried over money in the months leading up to the frenzied attack last November.
Legal secretary Ms Goodwin had told Bacon on the day of her death that she would not be “putting up with [his] s*** anymore”.
Armed with a ten-inch kitchen knife Bacon stabbed her repeatedly moments after she arrived home.
He called 999 shortly after 1am and told the operator: “I lost it, I stabbed her, I couldn't help it.”
When police arrived they found Bacon crouched in the hallway covered in Ms Goodwin's blood as her lifeless body lay at the foot of the stairs.
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Bacon's daughter, Hayley, who has changed her surname to Goodwin since the murder, said in an impact statement: “Our family is forever broken.
“Words cannot express the pain that our family and friends have endured since my mum's murder.”
A jury took just over an hour to find Bacon guilty of murder. He had denied the charge on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Today judge David Radford sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered he serve a minimum of 16 years.
Son Alan had earlier told the court his dad was “very jealous” of his mum’s male friends.
He said: “'He said to mum 'if you try and sell the house I will kill myself'.
“He said: 'why would she want to leave, she has the perfect life here'.
“Mum always wanted a little house with a dog and a horse and she was on her way, she was excited by it.”
Bacon had his incapacity benefit taken away six months before the killing and hadn't worked since 1997.
Alan added: “But he worried about money and he was trying to push her into to get into a job with more money to cover his drop in salary.”
He described his father as “controlling, self-piteous, regularly threatening to commit suicide and a hypochondriac.”
Zoe Johnson, prosecuting, said: “The evidence suggests the defendant was lying in wait for Tracy Goodwin's return from work that night.
“The killing happened as Ron Bacon was enraged because he was in imminent danger of losing his home.
Bacon had sobbed as he told jurors he was left 'heartbroken' over his partner's affair with a swimming coach.
He maintained he knew nothing of Ms Goodwin's to sell the house in the lead up to her death and insisted he had never hurt her.
Judge David Radford told him: “I have no doubt that in the course of the hours after Ms Goodwin left for work on that day you ruminated on your anger and formed a controlled intent to vent that anger at her when she returned.
“She did not even have the opportunity of taking off her coat before you launched that attack on her.”
“It must have been a terrifying ordeal for someone who was the father of her children to attack her in her own home.”
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