Andrew Jones jailed for life for murdering wife's lover

A man who shot his wife's lover after luring him to a remote farm has been jailed for life for murder.

Andrew Jones, 53, of Bronwydd Road, Carmarthen, killed father-of-three Michael O'Leary on 27 January before burning his body.

Jones tried to make it look like Mr O'Leary, from Nantgaredig, had killed himself by using his phone to text family members.

He was jailed for at least 30 years at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.

Jones, who claimed the gun went off accidentally and he tried to cover up the killing, was found guilty of murder following a trail earlier this month.

• How texts sent by man's murderer raised suspicions

Mr O'Leary's body has never been found, but his blood was found on a forklift truck at the farm and DNA analysis had shown a 10g piece of intestine also found at the farm came from Mr O'Leary.

Business man Michael O'Leary was reported missing after failing to return home from work

Jones lured Mr O'Leary to Cincoed Farm, in Cwmffrwd, after finding out he was having an affair with his wife Rhiannon.

He used his wife's secret phone to text him, asking for a "cwtch" (cuddle).

But when he arrived at the farm, Jones shot him with a .22 Colt rifle.

Jones then took Mr O'Leary's car to a river and tried to make it look as if he killed himself, sending messages to his loved ones saying: "I'm so sorry x".

He then rode a bicycle back to the farm before taking Mr O'Leary's body to a builder's yard adjacent to his home and burning it.

Jones (right) felt "shocked and "disappointed" after he found text messages between his wife Rhiannon (left) and Mr O'Leary

Jurors were told Mr O'Leary started having an affair with Jones's wife - who went to the same gym as him - in 2019.

Mr O'Leary was reported missing after he failed to return home from work, sparking a major police search.

The two men had known each other for about 25 years, and had gone on holidays together over the years.

Lady Justice Jefford QC told Jones the destruction of his friend's body "robbed the family of a funeral".

She told him the "effectiveness with which you mimicked your wife" in text messages to Mr O'Leary, "evidenced the extent to which you had been monitoring the messages".

"I have no doubt that in enticing Mr O'Leary to this meeting was to kill him," she said. "This was clearly a planned ambush."

She also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the rifle used to kill Mr O'Leary.

'Cold-blooded killer'

In a victim impact statement, Mr O'Leary's eldest son Wayne told Jones, who ran a construction firm, that "on 27 of January I became a man without a father and you became a coldblooded killer".

He added: "We as a family see his workers driving around, passing our house with his name splashed on the van and it's an instant dagger to the heart.

"Even with the rebranding of the company now, I see it go past all the time."

Mr O'Leary's sister, Catherine, said he "worshipped our mother" and did the same for "each and every one of us".

"On my wedding day he gave me away, he'd always been the father figure as my mum was a single mother. He was the rock of the family."

Mr O'Leary's wife Sian said 2019 had been a "trying year for us" but: "I know Mike loved me and that gives me great comfort.

"We were trying to overcome some things in our marriage. We talked about growing old together. I would worry sometimes that my luck would run out and it did in January."