Who is Michael Stirling? Brother-in-law of Samantha Eastwood’s ex-fiance who pleaded guilty to her murder
The midwife's body was found in rural wasteland eight days after she went missing and he has now been jailed for life
THE killer of Samantha Eastwood, whose body was found buried in a shallow grave eight days after she went missing, has been jailed for life.
Michael Stirling wept in the dock after admitting he killed Samantha.
Who is Michael Stirling and how did he know the midwife?
Michael Stirling is a fencing worker from Stoke-on-Trent.
The 32-year-old is the brother-in-law of Samantha Eastwood's ex-fiance, John Peake.
Stirling is married to Katie Stirling, John Peake's sister, who is also 32.
The couple lived in Northwood less than a mile away from Michael's parents, Stephen and Carol.
A source described Stirling as a "real outdoorsy type of man" who would "often go camping with his family".
When was he charged with Samantha Eastwood's murder?
Stirling was charged with the murder of Samantha Eastwood on Sunday, August 5.
He was arrested along with his innocent father Stephen, 60, and an unnamed 28-year-old who were quizzed for possibly assisting an offender.
In August, Staffordshire Police announced no action would be taken against either of them.
Stirling appeared at Stafford Crown Court on August 8 via video-link, making no application for bail.
The former gardener appeared calm and emotionless during the 20-minute preliminary hearing, speaking only to confirm his name, age and nationality.
It emerged that prior to the August 8 hearing he was left cowering in his jail cell after being beaten up by inmates.
On October 22, 2018, Stirling admitted during a plea hearing that he had murdered the midwife and dumped her body in a ditch.
Stirling's defence barrister Charles Miskin QC said the fight came after "growing tension" from the "long-standing but not particularly intense affair".
Mr Miskin added that Stirling was "absolutely horrified" by what happened.
He said: "He entirely accepts he misled others in the aftermath of the killing.
"He is absolutely horrified about what happened.
"He is deeply sorry, not for himself, but for all those others who are victims of this crime."
Stirling was jailed for life at Stafford Crown Court with a minimum of 17 years.
What happened to Samantha Eastwood?
Samantha was last seen at 7.45am on July 27, 2018, leaving Royal Stoke University Hospital with a colleague.
She was last spotted driving her blue Volvo XC60 from the hospital car park and heading towards the Hilton Road exit in the Hartshill area of Stoke-on-Trent.
Her car was later found parked by her home with the keys still inside.
The midwife's body was found in rural wasteland in Caverswall on Saturday, August 4, eight days after she disappeared.
During his sentencing hearing, the court was told how he killed the midwife “in a fog of anger” at her Stoke-on-Trent home following a row on July 27.
At his sentencing hearing on December 3, 2018, details of his affair with Samantha were revealed having begun with a "mutual flirtation" in 2013.
But by the end of the relationship, the court heard Stirling had been "hounding" the midwife - calling her 128 times in the month before her death while she tried to distance herself from him.
The affair came to a head on July 27, when Stirling visited Samantha's home after she finished a night shift at the Royal Stoke University Hospital.
Neighbours told police they heard a woman screaming - with it sounding like she had yelled "get off me".
After killing her, he bound her face with brown parcel tape before putting her inside a duvet cover, before binding her ankles with tape from his van and her head again.
The court heard Stirling then put Samantha's body into his van - driving home to have dinner with his wife Katie, 32, and his parents while the body sat in his car.
In the meantime, Samantha's colleagues raised concerns at 7.20pm that she had failed to show up for her next shift.
He tried to cover up his crime by sending her family fake text messages from her phone.
Stirling also tried to cover his tracks by making it look like Samantha had made off with a man she met on the Internet.
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The court heard heard how "composed and callous" the killer had even hugged Samantha’s family and vowed he would help find her – just hours after smothering her.
He told his family he would go search for her - instead driving to Caverswall, Staffs, at 10.30pm, where he spent 40 minutes digging the grave to hide her body.
Stirling was arrested on suspicion of kidnap on Sunday, July 29, at Hanley police station, but he was released.
But cops had discovered signals from his phone that showed he was in Caverswall and he was seen in the area acting suspiciously a week later on Thursday lunchtime.
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