Trial Opens in Manslaughter Case Over Wife's Suicide

A court in Winchester has heard opening arguments in the trial of a man accused of manslaughter after his wife took her own life amid allegations of years of controlling and violent behavior. Christopher Trybus, 43, from Swindon in Wiltshire, faces charges of manslaughter, controlling and coercive behavior, and two counts of assault related to the death of his wife, Tarryn Baird, in November 2017.

Prosecutor Tom Little KC told the jury at Winchester Crown Court that Trybus subjected Baird, who was 34 at the time of her death, to extensive and escalating abuse during their marriage. The coercive control charge details how Trybus allegedly used and threatened physical violence, carried out sexual assaults including two rapes, monitored her whereabouts, restricted her access to finances, threatened to disclose private information to her family, and isolated her from relatives. This pattern of manipulation occurred over a sustained period behind closed doors, Little said, even when Trybus was traveling abroad for work as a software consultant and developer.

Baird, who had worked at an optician's and later handled administrative tasks from home for Trybus's company, died by hanging...