Lover who lived in shed is jailed after covering up wife’s murder

A WOMAN who lived in her lover’s garden shed and helped try to cover up his wife’s murder was jailed for four and a half years yesterday.

A judge said Rita Heyster, 57, had come under the influence of the “devious and manipulative” Harry Jarvis, 61, but she had committed a serious offence which had caused acute distress to the dead woman’s family.

Carol Jarvis’s body was dumped in the cellar of her home in Bathgate, West Lothian, and her four children spent several days agonising over her apparent disappearance. By the time the body was discovered, pathologists were unable to tell how she had died.

Earlier this year, Jarvis was convicted of murdering his 47-year-old wife “by means unknown” in September 2009 and was ordered to serve at least 15 years of a life sentence. Heyster stood trial separately and was acquitted of murder, but found guilty of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

She failed to notify the authorities of Mrs Jarvis’s death, concealed the body with Jarvis, and then fled with him.

Mrs Jarvis’s son, Kevin, 25, said the family was happy that the court proceedings were finally concluded. “We did not expect her to get as long a sentence. I do not have any feelings towards her. I should say I hate her but the fact is I have no connections with this woman. I feel more for her family. Like us, but in a different way, they have lost a mum,” said Mr Jarvis.

He added that he could well believe that Heyster had been influenced by his father, but he did not accept she had been as much a victim as portrayed in court. “At some point, everyone has their cut-off and says, ‘Wait a minute here’.”

Mrs Jarvis kept poor health and was cared for by her husband, a heavy drinker who had gone off with other women at different times but who was always welcomed back by his wife.

Heyster, of Peebles, was his latest lover. She was a once-wealthy widow who ended up homeless and living on benefits. She stayed in the hut in the back garden of the Jarvis home, and sneaked into the house at night.

On Monday, 14 September, 2009, the children discovered their mother was not at home, and made a missing person report to the police.

Jarvis and Heyster had gone to Perth. The decomposing body of Mrs Jarvis was found in the cellar. The cause of death could not be determined.

Jarvis had several hand-written notes, in which he referred to “my princess Marguerita” and stated: “Drugs are doing job, just took longer than I thought…Carol is dying as I write…then we have house to ourselves and sell all in it to move on.”

More tests were carried out, but no evidence could be found of a drug-related cause of death.

The defence solicitor-advocate, Ray McMenamin, for Heyster, said: “This is a woman who has lived an existence before this without blemish and devoid of criminality. Her fall from grace has been inextricably linked to her infatuation with Jarvis.”

Lord Brailsford told Heyster: “This conduct plainly constitutes an attempt to defeat the ends of justice at the higher end of the scale of gravity.” The judge said he took into account that Heyster was probably vulnerable when she met Harry Jarvis. He was devious and manipulative and she was influenced by him.