Husband Jailed for Fatal Stabbing of Wife

Dale Crook has been sentenced to prison for murder after fatally stabbing his wife. His sentencing took place on Friday at Stafford Crown Court, following his admission in an earlier hearing to killing 28-year-old Milica Zilic. Ms. Zilic’s body was discovered at the couple’s flat on Wolverhampton Road, Stafford, on November 27, 2023, after police were summoned to the address shortly before 13:30 GMT. Crook, aged 34, had been transported to a hospital two days prior, after a family member contacted law enforcement with concerns about his welfare. He was arrested subsequent to the discovery of Ms. Zilic’s body. A knife was recovered from the flat, and a post-mortem examination determined that Ms. Zilic had died from a stab wound to the chest. During Friday’s court proceedings, Crook received a sentence of 11 years and nine months in prison. Elijana, Ms. Zilic’s mother, offered a tribute, stating: “My soul aches and everything inside me is falling apart. Pain and sadness are destroying me from the inside.” She expressed that she would “hug the cold stone with her name” and frequently questioned why Crook had killed her. She further remarked: “I look at her picture in the silence of the apartment and it seems to me that she will speak, move her lips, smile at me, but only my breathing and sobs are heard.” She recalled her daughter’s early life, including how she “rushed to be born,” along with her laughter, initial steps, and first words. She conveyed: “The words that I didn’t tell her hurt. It hurts that I won’t be able to hug her anymore, to smell her scent. It hurts that she could still love, work, laugh, cry, rejoice, suffer. The emptiness hurts.” She continued: “Everything stopped for me. I lost a part of myself, I wake up in pain, I work out of habit, mechanically. I lie down in pain, but there is no sleep in my eyes.“Everything suddenly became a straight line. It’s hard to live like this, but I go through life with my head held high. I smile and tell myself ‘I’m fine’ but I’m lying.” For updates, follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire across BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external websites. Further details on our approach to external linking are available.