Michael Barryman

> Barryman was an old school ladies man, who only ever had eyes for one woman, his wife. He was a sweet talker, hard worker and kind hearted character, who always tried his best in everything, but still managed to fail.
>
> T.J Williams describing the character 2019

Michael Eric Barryman (November 27 1941 - December 11 2000) was the third husband and victim of Dora Mitchell. He was the widower of Christina Denham and the father of Claire, Shane, Mark and Sarah. He was once the partner of Julia Mitchell, until he was caught kissing her sister Dora. He was an English teacher at St. David's Primary School and the only victim of Mitchell's who's body had not been decomposed at the discovery.

## Background

He was born on November 27 1941 in Dudley, he was the second son of Albert Barryman (1896-1978) and Kathryn (nee Rodgers; 1905-1969). His parents already had a seven year old son named Arthur and later another child named Geoffrey. The family's original surname was Barrowman and they came from Brighton, but upon his father entering a bigamous marriage when marrying his mother, he changed it. He was already married to a woman named Margaret, with whom he had two children with named Rupert and David, who Barryman never met until the day of their father's funeral. During his childhood he was close to his brothers and attended Bridgman Grove School.

## Personal life

### Relationship with Julia Mitchell

In 1965, Barryman entered into a relationship with Julia Mitchell, who he met at a mutual friend's house party in Wolverhampton. They exchanged phone numbers and would often meet up. He began working in Stafford and moved to the area with a couple of friends and before long Julia also began living with him. Upon introducing him to her family, he was liked by her parents and brother Martin, but it was evident that older sister Carol had fancied him. Barryman used to take Julia away on holiday's to places such as Venice, Glasgow and Dublin and would always buy her flowers and other gifts just to make her feel special. However in 1969, they had an argument over her flirting with one of his friend's and she moved back to her parents house. A few weeks later, he attended her twenty-sixth birthday party, where he first met her younger sister Dorothy. Whilst standing in the kitchen, waiting for Julia to enter the room, Dorothy approached him and began flirting with him. He told her that he was dating her sister, but that did not stop her from kissing him. Moments after she made her move, Julia saw them when she stood in the doorway and slapped him across the face, before running off in tears. The next day, Julia told Michael their relationship was over and although he tried to win her back by buying her gifts, making her feel special and offering to take her away on holiday, nothing worked.

### Marriage to Christina Denham

Barryman married Christina Denham on February 14 1974, after a three year relationship. They met at the Rainbow nightclub in Telford, the following year after his relationship with Julia ended. They had four children named Claire (b. 1976), Shane (b. 1978), Mark (b. 1982) and Sarah (b. 1986). They
had a marriage made in Heaven, which was based on love, trust and commitment. However in 1986, their marriage ended when Christina was killed after getting accidentally knocked over by Barryman's brother Geoffrey.

### Marriage to Dora Mitchell

#### Main article: Mr & Mrs. Barryman

Michael Barryman and Dora Mitchell married on September 27 1994 in Stoke-on-Trent. Their marriage sustained irremediable repercussions once Dora began to feel trapped by Barryman's persistent affectionate and supportive approaches. Barryman always overcompensated what a perfect husband should be and would usually buy Dora gifts, take her to the most expensive restaurants and effectuate romantic gestures. However, Dora was never satisfied, she always had a dismissive attitude and would blame Barryman for most things. Though he always deluded himself that the marriage was better than it actually was. consequently, Dora fell out of love with Barryman and became hostile towards him. The marriage came to a fierce end on December 11 2000, when she vigorously held a pillow over Barryman's head, whilst he slept next to her in bed. Although he struggled to fight for his life, she refused to give up and suffocated him to death.