Stacey Gwilliam, a bride-to-be who crawled out of a grave after being buried alive by her bodybuilder husband-to-be seven years ago has sadly pass away at the age of just 40.
Stacey was 34 when she was attacked and buried by lover Keith Hughes in a row as the pair walked on Caswell Bay, a coastal path on the Gower Peninsula, south Wales, just days after he proposed in July 2015.
Painter and decorator Hughes, 39, tried to snap Stacy’s neck and then hide her body under bushes as he run away from the spot.
Police detained Hughes after he collided her car, but he told to the police that they will never be able to find Stacey. But Stacey stays alive by using her nails to tear out of the grave to help bring Hughes to justice.
But unfortunately, Stacey passes away at her family home in Townhill, Swansea, in November last year after suffering ill health. Paramedics were called and the family were guided to perform CPR. Police say they were no doubtful state of affairs surrounding her death.
An investigation into her death make out that she had to walk with a stick and was left with struggle eating, breathing, speaking and terribly died from pneumonia and combined drug poisonousness.
Stacey stay alive for six years after the cruel attack and in a dramatic victim testimonial to the court during Hughes’ hearing in 2015, she spoke of how she almost died and spent nearly three weeks in a coma after saying that she wanted to end their relationship.
Hughes was jailed for life with a minimum of eight years before he is eligible for parole. The Judge added that Hughes was a ‘severe risk’.
Stacey told Swansea Crown Court that she was struggling with the injuries from Hughes strangling and burying her alive. She said in her testimonial that Hughes simply told her “If I can’t have you no-one can”. Stacey said that she knew that the relationship was over and knew she would not go back to him. She added that Hughes took her down there that day to kill her and he almost succeeded.
Stacey further said that she will never ever fail to recall what Hughes did to her that day and what he did to her during the course of their relationship and now she have to live with that for the rest of her life and she only hope he does to.
A year after the attack, Stacey described how she recovered consciousness after being buried and the moment she understood that she was stuck beneath the pile of dirt and leaves on a beach after the attack.
Although Hughes was sentenced to life in jail but he will be qualified to apply for parole in 2024 and Stacey told of her anxiety for the likelihood of his release. She said that she could hear her heart beating and the sound of the sea in the background. She recalls how she came round and there were branches and shrubs put on top of her. While recalling the attack, she said it was like everything was in slow motion and all she could see were blurs of green and brown.
Stacey said that she couldn’t breathe and couldn’t move. It was like she was paralysed and it was surely terrible. She tried to get up, but couldn’t. She had to use her nails to get out of where she was. She further said that was all she could do. She tried to push but she didn’t have the strength.
When she ultimately managed to pull herself to safety, she collapsed outside a nearby golf club where the alarm was raised. She was then taken to hospital and put in an induced coma for 26 days to recuperate.
Speaking about Hughes’ release, she told that she feel frightened but she said that she going to be in a stronger place because she has got a lot of support. She said that she does have hope for the future and it’s down to the support of her family and friends. Stacey added that ‘If it wasn’t for them I couldn’t have done this alone, but they’ve all been there for me.’
