Note: The following article contains discussion of themes including suicide.
Channel 4 revisits another controversial criminal case this Thursday (2 July) in a new episode of The Accused: Beyond Reasonable Doubt. After exploring the story of Stacey Hyde, the instalment examines the death of Paula Gilfoyle, who was eight-and-a-half months pregnant when she was found dead at her home in June 1992.
Although Paula's death initially appeared to be a suicide, her husband Eddie Gilfoyle was later convicted of her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993. More than three decades later, Eddie continues to maintain his innocence.
Paula and Eddie married in June 1989, but their relationship came under strain after they bought a house in Upton on the Wirral, in 1991. Extensive renovation work meant the couple temporarily lived with Paula's parents before Eddie moved into the unfinished property alone while continuing the work.
The separation created further distance between them. Paula remained at her parents' home after returning from a holiday in Turkey, while Eddie continued renovating the house with help from his father and a friend.
During this period, Eddie became close to colleague Sandra Davies, who was experiencing difficulties in her own relationship. Sandra has always denied they had a physical relationship or met outside of the workplace, though she agreed to move in with Eddie after he decided his marriage was over.
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In October 1991, Eddie began separation proceedings and asked Paula to collect her belongings. However, the situation changed dramatically when Paula revealed she was pregnant, prompting the couple to attempt a reconciliation.
Their relationship remained complicated. In April 1992, Paula wrote Eddie a letter claiming he was not the father of her unborn baby. Instead, she alleged she'd had a 14-month affair with a man named Nigel and intended to leave Eddie. She never did.
According to later evidence, Paula again told Eddie two days before her death that another man had fathered her child. Despite the difficulties in their marriage, the couple were reportedly making plans to move away from the Wirral and start a new life in the south of England. Eddie had even contacted a friend in Bournemouth about work and accommodation.
Those plans never came to fruition. On the afternoon of 4 June 1992, Eddie returned home from his job as a theatre assistant at a private hospital and found a two-page letter from Paula.
After reading only its opening lines, he believed she had left him and rushed to her parents' house before realising the letter was, in fact, a suicide note. Paula was later found dead in the garage of their home.
The prosecution argued that Eddie had psychologically manipulated Paula into taking her own life before staging the scene to resemble suicide. Eddie has consistently denied the allegation, insisting he had no involvement in his wife's death. His defence also highlighted the lack of forensic evidence linking him to the alleged murder.
Still, Eddie served his life sentence in Sudbury Prison in Derbyshire, and unsuccessfully challenged his conviction on two occasions before being released on parole in 2010. Since leaving prison, Eddie has continued his campaign to clear his name.
In 2017, he submitted an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission in the hope that his conviction would be referred back to the Court of Appeal. The commission ultimately declined to do so, meaning his conviction still stands.
More than 30 years after Paula's death, Eddie continues to insist he was wrongly convicted. With his and Paula's story being revisited in this Thursday's episode of The Accused: Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Eddie appears in the programme alongside his brother-in-law Paul, to share it in his own words.
The Accused: Beyond Reasonable Doubt airs this Thursday (2 July) from 10pm on Channel 4.
