Daryl Berman jailed for stabbing husband with vegetable knife
Daryl Berman, 72, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 12 years after fatally stabbing her husband, David Berman, 84, with a vegetable knife and claiming he tripped and fell on the blade at their Prestwich home. A Manchester jury rejected her accident account following a post-mortem and retrial.
The case has drawn national attention because Berman initially convinced police that her husband's death was a household tragedy rather than a deliberate attack. Prosecutors said she maintained that story for months before forensic evidence and chilling bodycam footage helped secure a murder conviction.
Key Takeaways
- Daryl Berman, 72, received a life sentence with a minimum of 12 years for murdering her husband of 27 years.
- She claimed David Berman, 84, fell onto a vegetable paring knife while carrying her lunch tray in March 2025.
- Pathologists concluded the chest wound was deliberately inflicted, not accidental.
- Police bodycam captured Berman asking officers: "You don't think I've murdered him, do you?"
- A retrial was ordered after the first jury failed to reach a verdict in December.
What happened to David Berman on March 13, 2025?
David Berman suffered a fatal chest wound at the couple's home on Butterstile Lane in Prestwich, Bury, Greater Manchester, on 13 March 2025. Daryl Berman told police her husband had offered to carry her lunch tray into the kitchen when he stumbled and landed on what she described as a "little paring knife."
She called emergency services at 1.55pm. Paramedics found the 84-year-old retired joiner lying on his back on the kitchen floor. He was pronounced dead at the property at 2.39pm. At first, authorities treated the death as a possible accident.
Why did investigators reject Daryl Berman's fall story?
Berman's account began to unravel when a post-mortem examination, conducted roughly five days later, raised doubts about the injury. Pathologists concluded the chest wound was inflicted deliberately rather than caused by a fall.
The post-mortem also recorded a stab wound to David Berman's right middle finger, which prosecutors said was consistent with a defensive injury. His son told officers his father was clumsy and prone to falling, but forensic findings pointed to something more sinister. Berman was arrested on suspicion of murder on 18 March 2025.
What did Daryl Berman say to police at the scene?
Police bodycam footage shown during trial captured unsettling remarks from Berman in the aftermath of the stabbing. Speaking on the driveway, she asked an officer: "You don't think I've murdered him, do you?" She also questioned her own composure, asking: "Why am I so calm?"
To a paramedic, she said she was covered in blood from attempting chest compressions and added that the reality had not fully hit her yet. The Independent reported that jurors saw this footage as the prosecution built its case that she knew exactly what she had done.
How long will Daryl Berman spend in prison?
Following a week-long retrial at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester, a jury found Daryl Berman guilty of murder. She was sentenced on 3 July 2026 to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years before she can be considered for parole.
Judge Tina Landale told Berman she had stabbed her husband with "severe force" during a loss of temper, using the knife she had earlier used to prepare lunch. The judge said Berman did not intend to kill David, but meant to cause really serious bodily harm. She had never given a truthful account of what happened.
Det Insp Alex Wilkinson of Greater Manchester Police said David Berman should have been safe at home but was "cruelly cut short by the person he trusted most." For more cases where initial explanations unravel under forensic scrutiny, see our True Crime & Unsolved Mysteries coverage. Full court reporting is available via Sky News.