Mrs Denyer said she would never forget her brother-in-law, murderer Paul Denyer, cornering her in a shopping centre and threatening her life.

She said: “From nowhere, I had [Denyer] in my face, nose to nose, saying ‘I’m going to kill you, and I’m going to kill your kids’.

“I was so frightened, I lost the power of speech... that was the last time I saw him.

“I believe if I had stayed I would be dead now.

“Paul Denyer has ruined our lives and we have done our utmost to put it all back together again.”

Denyer also falsely claimed David, his eldest sibling, sexually abused him as a child – an allegation he did not withdraw for a decade.

However, she said Denyer continued to stalk them, even though he was jailed, and traced them to England and sent them a letter in 2004.

It was the first time he acknowledged his sex-abuse claims against his brother were false.

Your Local Guardian: The letter Paul Denyer sent from prison

In the letter, which prompted a review of checks on outgoing mail from the maximum security Lara prison, Denyer said: “I’m sorry about allowing lies to be said about you, David.”

He also apologised for “any hardship I have caused you and Julie before I came to prison”.

At the time, the couple were frightened the killer was able to track them down from within the walls of a prison.

But Mrs Denyer, who keeps the letter in her purse as a constant reminder of her husband’s killer sibling, said she wanted to face her fears and move on.