Man jailed for murder after stabbing wife to death

Dale Crook has been sentenced to 11 years and nine months in prison

A man has been jailed for murder after stabbing his wife to death.

Dale Crook was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court on Friday after admitting at an earlier hearing he killed 28-year-old Milica Zilic.

Her body was found at the couple’s flat on Wolverhampton Road, Stafford, on 27 November 2023 after police were called to the address shortly before 13:30 GMT.

Crook, 34, had been taken to hospital two days earlier after a family member called police with concerns about his welfare. He was arrested after Ms Zilic’s body was found.

A knife was recovered from the flat and a post-mortem examination found Ms Zilic had died from a stab wound to the chest.

During Friday’s court hearing, Crook was sentenced to 11 years and nine months in prison.

Milica Zilic's body was found in the couple's apartment in Stafford

Paying tribute to Ms Zilic, her mother Elijana said: “My soul aches and everything inside me is falling apart. Pain and sadness are destroying me from the inside.”

She said she would “hug the cold stone with her name” and often asked herself why Crook killed her.

“I look at her picture in the silence of the apartment and it seems to me that she will speak, move her lips, smile at me, but only my breathing and sobs are heard,” she added.

'The emptiness hurts'

She said she remembered how her daughter “rushed to be born” as well as her laughter, first steps and first words.

“The words that I didn’t tell her hurt. It hurts that I won’t be able to hug her anymore, to smell her scent. It hurts that she could still love, work, laugh, cry, rejoice, suffer. The emptiness hurts,” she said.

“Everything stopped for me. I lost a part of myself, I wake up in pain, I work out of habit, mechanically. I lie down in pain, but there is no sleep in my eyes.

“Everything suddenly became a straight line. It’s hard to live like this, but I go through life with my head held high. I smile and tell myself ‘I’m fine’ but I’m lying.”