LATE yesterday, neither police nor the mother of the 32-year old man who brutally murdered his reputed wife at South Vigilance on Monday night could confirm that he had taken his life in the Strathspey backlands moments after committing the act.
However, speculation was rife around the two communities yesterday that 31-year-old Dionne Stephens’ killer may have may have taken his life, since, following a confrontation between the two last Sunday, when she packed her clothes and moved to her mother’s home, he openly threatened that he would kill her then kill himself, adding that he could not live without her.
Residents of neighbouring communities recalled that after the slaying of his reputed wife of seven years Monday night, the man, Leon Robinson, was last seen running towards the Strathspey Backlands.   However, his mother, Norma Robinson, said that villagers had combed the backlands in search of him but found no trace.
The elder Robinson and her sister, weeping, expressed regret that the police did not take the kind of action that would have intimidated or driven sufficient fear into him, so as to deter him from any attempts at killing his spouse. Persons who claimed that the man had threatened his wife in the presence of the Vigilance police expressed the view that it was time enough for them to take him into custody.
“If only they had did taken him away, we wouldn’t have to be mourning as we are today,” the man’s distraught mother lamented.
Meanwhile, at the home of Doreen Stephens, the mother of the dead woman, Dionne, several family members and friends huddled together, attempting to comfort the woman and Dionne’s four children, the care of whom now rests squarely with her. Still in a state of shock, the elder Stephens told this newspaper that the killing of her daughter brought to an end, ‘years and years’ of abuse at the hands of her reputed husband.
She recalled that about two months ago, her daughter, feeling she could no longer take the physical and psychological torment at the hands of the abuser, packed and moved to her maternal home.  However, he pleaded with her to return with him and she did.  “Every time she move out and come at me, he would come and beg her to go back home,” the woman recounted.
But this time, it was different.  It started with her mother’s 57th birthday celebration at her Vigilance home.  Dionne, her husband and the children were all present at the celebration and he had even taken his music set for the occasion, when suddenly Dionne’s cell phone rang.  Her reputed husband took offence, insisting it was a call from a male admirer.  He snatched her phone, took out the chip and seized it.   A confrontation broke out and she decided to end the relationship once and for all.  She sought the help and protection of the Vigilance Police, went to their Strathspey home and packed and moved her clothing to her mother’s home, but not without incident.  It was on this occasion that the man allegedly threatened her life.
The following night (Monday), shortly before 22:00, Dionne was at the back of her mother’s yard, collecting water from a stand-pipe to have a bath, when suddenly she was pounced upon and accosted by the killer.
She tried to resist as he stabbed her and she ran towards the house where her mother and others were already sleeping.  Her agonizing wails awoke her 14-year-old son and he awoke his grandmother.
They tried in vain to stop Robinson.
Soon Dionne lay bleeding in the yard and neighbours rushed her to the hospital.
Employed as a security guard with Neil and Massay, Dionne was described as a pleasant person with a ‘winning personality’.  A post mortem is to be performed.