Phones4U exec dies in Turkish jail after killing transgender ‘mail-order’ bride when he learned she was a MAN
A BRIT salesman who helped found Phones4U has died of sepsis in a hellhole Turkish prison - nine years after murdering his 'mail-order' Russian bride.
Chris Collier, 49, was caged in 2012 after bludgeoning wife Julia to death - after discovering that she used to be a MAN.
The former phone salesman from Rownall, Staffs. - who boasted how he "bought" her off the internet - killed Julia in a rage at their apartment in the resort of Kusadasi, on the Aegean coast of Turkey.
He was caged for 24 years after a dramatic trial in September 2012.
Collier, originally from Rownall, Staffs, was a key figure in the Phones4U empire before emigrating to Turkey in the late 1990s.
Assistant North Staffordshire coroner Sarah Murphy said: "The medical cause of death was aspiration pneumonia, bacterial infection related to sepsis.
"He had been jailed in Turkey and was being transferred into a hospital."
BLUDGEONED TRANS WIFE IN RAGE
Collier was believed to be a prolific user of an online forum for expat Brits.
One post claiming to be him said: "I paid for my wife and then moved to Kusadasi in my rented apartment."
Collier, originally from Rownall, Staffs, was a key figure in the Phones4U empire before emigrating to Turkey in the late 1990s.
He was one of the first salesmen that tycoon John Caudwell employed when he was building his mobile phone business, which later sold for a staggering £1.46billion in September 2006.
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Speaking at the time of Collier’s arrest the day after Julia’s death on November 27, 2010, Mr Caudwell said: “It is shocking to hear he has been arrested for murder. It’s shocking to hear about any murder.”
During his trial, the court heard Collier had knocked his wife unconscious with a hard object before smothering her.
A horrified woman pal of the couple said after he was caged: "Julia was just the nicest girl you could ever meet."