THE father of murdered Sandiway mum Julia Webb died last Wednesday, saddened forever by the loss of his daughter.

This week, Julia's husband John spoke of his family's struggle to come to terms with his death.

The funeral of Bill Peake, who was 85, takes place today, Wednesday. He died a week ago from bronchial pneumonia, following an eight-year battle with diabetes.

But Mr Webb said the effect of Julia's death on his father-in-law would never be truly known.

"Bill was deeply affected by Julie's death and used to talk about her quite often," he said.

"He never went into deep conversations about how he was feeling, but there were often times when he used to get really, really upset, and I would find him crying his heart out.

"It is difficult to say whether her death actually killed him as he had been ill for a long time, but he certainly didn't get any better and I am sure he would have been more content when he died if there had been an outcome to the murder enquiry."

Mr Webb, a heavy goods driver, described his father-in-law, a former ICI labourer, as a gentleman who loved life and shared a close relationship with his daughter.

"Julie thought the world of her family, especially her father," he said.

" When her mother Irene died, we immediately sold our house in Moulton and moved to Sandiway so that Julie could look after Bill while he was ill."

Mr Peake's condition deteriorated in January last year after his illness meant he was forced to have both his legs amputated below the knee.

"He always seemed to battle through and never wanted to trouble any of us, but in the end I think he just gave up," Mr Webb said.

"His death has hit us hard and I shall miss him dearly, and it has affected both my sons, especially Nick, whose heart broke when he found out.

"I want to talk to both of them as it can't be easy to have to cope with another death, but I'm worried about fetching back too many painful memories."

It has been just over 18 months since the horrific killing, in which Julia, 52, was battered to death with a blunt instrument as she walked in Kennnel Lane with her labrador, Rosie.

But despite interviewing more than 5,000 people, detectives are still short of clues to her killer's identity - and to why they would do it.

"We still hold out hope but the grief is not getting any easier," he said.

"I think about her a lot because we had such a good life together. It's a very strange feeling to come home to an empty house and know that you are completely alone."

He added: "I suppose there is a feeling of relief for Bill, but I wish just for his sake that Julie's murderer had been found . At least then he would have died in some kind of peace."

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