A master manipulator who battered his elderly fiancée before drowning her in the bath has been jailed.
Clifford Cowen, 59, plied Rita Fleming, 70, with alcohol in her flat in Notting Hill, west London in a bid to make her death seem like a drunken accident, Kingston Crown Court heard.
The victim was found dead in her nightdress in the tub, with the hot tap running and a towel covering the plug hole, when police forced entry on June 23, 2024.
He told police he was due to marry Ms Fleming in August but detectives described him as a 'master manipulator' after he was convicted of murder by a jury which deliberated for just six hours following a four-week trial.
Cowen was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 16 years on Monday.
