Online Gambling Exec Stabbed Wife To Death
The CEO and founder of an online gambling social network is accused of murdering his estranged wife after reading a text sent by her lover.
Olga Pleguezuelos was found dead in her Northwest London home last year and a trial is now ongoing. Mark Campbell, 53, reportedly attacked the woman while she lay sleeping.
Campbell is the proprietor of Gem Lifestyles, a website which looks to bring individuals together in a virtual casino-themed world.
The prosecution argued that Pleguezuelos woke up during the attack and tried to fight off her husband. Campbell eventually stabbed his wife to death. He had slit his own wrists prior to calling an ambulance, according to prosecutors.
The Spanish-born Pleguezuelos had told him a week before her death that she was leaving him and "starting afresh" in Las Vegas after meeting a new man and finding a new job, according to the London Telegraph.
Aftab Jafferjee QC, prosecuting, said: "There was nothing sudden or temporarily about it.
"You will see from his own writings recovered from a bin he had been rationalising the situation for sometime.
"In the end he simply refused to take the rejection. It all boils down to a sadly depressing theme, 'if I can't have you, nobody can.'"
The pair had lived together for a number of years before they married in 2008 in London.
Mr Jafferjee said: "The defendant was a CEO of an online gaming business and had run up considerable debts. It became a cause of strain in their marriage.
"Seven days before she was killed she contacted her husband from Las Vegas to tell him the relationship was over, even though she would always continue to love him, she was not in love with him any longer."
Her friends told detectives that "for a long time she continued to put his well being above her own" until she met her new lover.
Prior to starting Gem Lifestyles, Campbell had been appointed CEO of the Online gambling software and solutions provider, NetSurf Media.
Alistair Prescott, Gambling911.com
