Christine Rawle: 'Horse-mad' hypnotist, 69, who killed husband with a single stab wound denied bail
NORTH DEVON, SOUTH WEST ENGLAND: A horsewoman has been denied bail after being charged with the murder of her husband of 35 years. Sixty-nine-year-old Christine Rawle allegedly stabbed her husband Ian Rawle, 72, at their bungalow in north Devon, on Sunday afternoon, August 21. Devon and Cornwall police confirmed that Ian died on the spot.
No application for bail was made at a brief hearing at Exeter Magistrates' Court on Thursday, August 25. Rawle was remanded in custody ahead of her plea hearing on September 22. According to the prosecutor, Robert Yates, Ian died on the scene at 3.16 pm from a single stab wound. Rawle describes herself in her Facebook bio as a "hypnotist, trauma recovery guide, and a horsewomen."
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A post-mortem examination revealed a single stab wound to Ian's upper back. He also had heart disease, which most likely contributed to his death from a minor blood loss. When police were called to the house at 2.35 pm, Rawle was charged with attempted murder, but she was re-arrested on murder suspicion when Ian was pronounced dead less than an hour later. During the court hearing on Thursday, judge Yates stated that it was "entirely appropriate" not to grant bail given the circumstances of the case.
'Everything seemed fine'
Ian owned a village shop and garage in Braunton until he sold it a decade ago. Friends previously confirmed that he has since run a groundworks landscaping business. A shop assistant at a nearby garage said she last saw Ian hours before his death when he came in to buy groceries. "Everything seemed fine," she stated on Wednesday. "He was in good spirits and joked that I was still working for a living. There was nothing to suggest anything was wrong in his life."
Ian's friend also said, "Chris was all about her horses and her animals. She lived for them – she was horse-mad. For Ian it was all work, work, work."
One of the neighbors described the couple as "quite reserved" but "nice people". She added, "They both did their own thing," he said. "Chris was into a lot of things – she certainly offered her services as a hypnotist."
Rawle describes herself as a "registered horse trainer" on social media and is known as "the horse whisperer". In one of the YouTube videos, Rawle shows her demonstrating her horsemanship skills while discussing her hypnosis abilities. She said in the video, "I guess I am in the business of making people happy."
(Photo: Bonner Chapman/ YouTube)
After the incident, police forensic teams sealed off the fields and woodland above the couple's house. Officers took pictures of the tree line and the area surrounding a sprawling complex of barns and stables, where Rawle is believed to have kept four horses.