Man hid dead wife in barrel for 23 years

MELBOURNE, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- An Australian man has been convicted of killing his wife and keeping her body in an oil drum in his home in a Melbourne suburb for 23 years.

Fredrick Boyle's secret was uncovered in October 2006 when his son-in-law was cleaning the house in Carrum Downs and opened the drum, The Sunday Times reported.

A jury in Melbourne Friday rejected Boyle's claim that he found his wife, Edwina, dead in bed. Boyle, 58, told the court he hid her remains because he was having an affair with another woman and feared he would be charged with his wife's death, the Times reported.

Boyle, who immigrated from South Wales in 1972, reportedly raised the couple's two daughters to believe their mother had run off with a truck driver.