A Norwich woman killed by her partner after years of controlling behaviour spent eight years as his prison pen-pal before they moved in together when he was released.
Tracey Kidd wrote to Paul Vissers when he was in Peterborough Prison and then Norwich Prison.
They began a relationship eight years ago, and were together from when he left jail in April 2019.
On Wednesday, Vissers, 41, was given an extended 10 year sentence at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday (July 5) after having previously admitted the manslaughter of 57-year-old Ms Kidd in March 2020.
Now Ms Kidd's sister Gina Kidd has lifted the lid on how Vissers controlled her and isolated her from her family, meaning she lost her long before she was found dead in a London flat.
Tracey had been a vibrant and outgoing woman, described by her sister Gina as a "bundle of fun" as she recalled the times they lived on Motum Road in the Earlham area of Norwich.
But things changed after former Heartsease High School pupil Tracey met Vissers, she said.
Gina said: "She seemed so happy - she was so happy. I'm telling you she really thought she had found true love."
They spent a couple of days in a Norwich hotel following his release from prison after which said he "wanted to get to know the family".
But it soon became clear all was not what it seemed.
Another family member gave Vissers the chance of some work but he would take Tracey's phone and bank card with him and other members of her family "couldn't ever get hold of her".
She said: "We wanted to get to know him, but he didn't want us near my sister."
The door to her house on Motum Road, which had always been open, was now locked shut.
She said: "You couldn't get in. I wanted to see my sister."
Gina said her sister would be seen walking together with Vissers with "her head down".
She said: "She had to walk behind him. He would say 'don't disrespect me by walking in front of me'.
"That's what he used to say. He made her delete lots of her male friends off Facebook, even her nephews."
Vissers and Tracey left Motum Road following an incident in July 2019 when a family member was placed in a headlock by Vissers following a fall out.
Gina said she only saw her sister a couple of times before they left for London in the autumn of 2019, including in August 2019 when they met up for a coffee in Norwich.
Gina said Vissers just "sat on the wall" while her sister told her he did not think she liked him.
But she assured Tracey she would say if that was the case and repeated that to Vissers.
She told him: "If I didn't like you, I would say it but said to him 'I don't trust you - you will hurt her'."
She said he replied: "No I won't, I love her", to which Gina said: "We will see."
Gina said the atmosphere was "horrible" during that meeting, which was the last time she saw her sister.
That year was the "first time in my life" Gina had not been wished a happy birthday by her sister.
She said she spoke to her sister two or three times while she was in London but was worried about her.
She said: "We were going to kidnap her - we were that worried about her."
Gina described how text messages sent to Tracey would come back clearly answered by Vissers on her behalf as they contained things she would never say.
She said: "He ostracised her from her family. He knew what he was doing. He was clever. I said she would come back in a box. It's just horrible."
Gina said she now wanted to write to Vissers in prison and ask him why he did it.
She said: "I would like to send him a letter. I would just ask why? Why Paul? You had the best thing in your life, why did you do that?"
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