A SHOPAHOLIC wife accused of plotting to kill her husband in order to claim his £750,000 life insurance has been found not guilty. Lisa Fairpo, 36, gasped with relief and burst into tears when the jury of 12 read out the unanimous verdict after just 45 minutes' deliberation at Hull Crown Court.
The mother-of-three and foster carer of St George's Street, west Hull, was accused of being part of a conspiracy with notorious Hull criminal Darren Wilson, 45, to murder her husband, Andrew Burr, 37.
Wilson was found guilty in September and will be sentenced next week but a previous jury failed to reach a verdict on Ms Fairpo, so a retrial was held this week.
Defending, Judith Seaborne, said the Crown's suggestion Ms Fairpo was the "driving force" behind Mr Burr applying for the maximum life insurance was based on "sweeping generalisations" and theories with no solid evidence.
Miss Seaborne said: "Lisa Fairpo is a doting mum and a very good foster mum but she is dreadful with money and the first to admit that.
"There is simply no evidence that she was in on this plot.
"There are no reported conversations between Mr Wilson and Ms Fairpo, there are no phone calls or text messages.
"There is nothing the crown can rely on to show they were in on it together."
The prosecution said the plot to kill Mr Burr was motivated by Ms Fairpo's £24,000 debt and revenge after Mr Burr poked her in the eye during a heated argument, which left her blind.
Wilson had arranged to pay debt-ridden former soldier Mikhail Ward, £10,000 to lure Mr Burr, a painter and decorator, into an empty home under the pretence of business and stab him.
But Ward had a change of heart and confessed to the police over the phone while escaping Hull for London.
The day after Ward confessed, Mr Burr called Smart Insurance to take out the maximum amount paid for by Ms Fairpo, which the prosecution said was too much of a coincidence.
But Miss Seaborne said: "Ms Fairpo suffered the serious misfortunes of knowing Mr Wilson and trying – and failing – with her husband to organise wills and life insurance for their family.
"If the plot was to kill her husband, why didn't she just fill in the forms on the computer and get her husband to sign them? The reality is, as Ms Fairpo and her husband have told us themselves, they genuinely wanted life cover."
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