A MAN accused of murdering his estranged wife says he heard a 'loud white noise' and grabbed her throat and possible mouth to 'stop her talking' when she told him of an on-off affair with another man for two years.

Russell Marsh, 29, took to the stand at Mold Crown Court at the third week of his trial for the murder of Jade Marsh, also known as Jade Ward, in Shotton in August 2021, and admitted that he had unlawfully killed the mother of his four children.

Marsh also told the court that his wife had told him that she had planned to push him into depression, resulting in his suicide, leading to a claim on two life insurance policies, netting her around £1 million.

Marsh, under questioning from defence barrister, Christopher Tehrani QC, also said that Jade had 'baited' him by saying she was '80 per cent sure' that one of his children had been fathered by his brother.

Giving evidence for the first time, and after a series of 'no comment' interviews, Marsh told the court that before her death in the early hours of August 26, 2021, he and Jade had had sex where she produced a knife.

She allegedly ran it up and down his chest, and when he asked her to stop, she began to verbally abuse him which led to him calling his mother in the early hours of the morning.

Marsh says that she travelled from her home in Saughall to Chevrons Road in Shotton, only to leave five minutes later after Jade had refused her entry to the house.

He then said the pair had sex again in the upstairs of the house – despite accusations from prosecution witnesses that Jade was no longer attracted to him – and he proceeded to put a pillow over her face following, he said, requests for him to choke her.

Again, Marsh said that she abused him but then told the court that his victim slashed at her own face, despite the prosecution's assertion that she took pride in her appearance, and that he tried to take the knife off her.

Marsh added as he tried to get the knife off her, the pair fell onto the floor, and said the cuts and bruises on her body when she was found would have come from the struggle.

Here, he alleges, she admitted to a relationship with a man called Charlie Dale.

Marsh told the court he heard a 'loud white noise' and grabbed her throat and possible mouth to 'stop her talking'.

He confirmed he threw the knife and phones belonging to him and Jade away near his parent's house, in order to 'protect' her, and then went to police.

Marsh denied claims from the prosecution that Jade 'physically recoiled' from him, saying there was still an attraction between the pair.

He also denied he tried to control Jade's life and that he verbally abused her at a baby shower in 2020 and that he was trying to paint a negative picture of his former partner in order to hide this from the jury.

Marsh also told the court that Jade had not told him he had a 'fat, ugly neck and she didn't love you'.

The trial continues.