A fisherman strangled a woman, tied her body up with string and dumped it in the sea, Supreme Court heard yesterday.David Wayne DeSilva, 47, was originally charged with murdering Denise Evans-Wilkinson, 46.He was due to stand trial yesterday, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis that he did not mean to kill her.According to the charge, DeSilva killed the victim some time between April 26, 2011, when she was last seen, and April 29, when her body was discovered in the water off the coast of Mill Point Road, in Pembroke.Director of Public Prosecutions Rory Field told Supreme Court after the manslaughter plea: “Not only did he kill Denise Wilkinson unlawfully, but he also disposed of her body in the water in a callous and bizarre manner in order to conceal his crime. She was found naked and dead, floating in the water in Mill Creek.”Mr Field said the victim’s body had string around it and a cloth was tied to her feet. An examination revealed that the hyoid bone in her throat was fractured, indicating she had been strangled. By pleading guilty to manslaughter, DeSilva admitted killing the victim, but without the prerequisite element of intent necessary for a murder charge.Mr Field declined to share any further information about the case with The Royal Gazette afterwards, but said it would be given during the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, November 21.DeSilva, of Tulo Lane, Pembroke, had been on bail in recent months due to delays in holding his trial, which was originally slated for June. He was first charged in September 2011.Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons remanded him into custody after he admitted the manslaughter charge. The maximum sentence he could face is life imprisonment.His defence lawyer Mark Pettingill said after the hearing: “I think some balance has to be brought to the circumstances as the DPP put them. This will be heard in mitigation next week.”He declined to give any further details at this stage, but described DeSilva as an unmarried fisherman with no children.Ms Evans-Wilkinson’s family declined to comment.It has previously been reported that the victim, from Pembroke, was a mother of adult children who was once married. Evans was her maiden name and Wilkinson her married name.She was known to frequent the Pembroke area, particularly Court Street and Friswells Road.In February 2011, Brian Rogers, of North Terrace, was jailed for six years for torching a man’s car because he thought he was sleeping with his partner Ms Evans-Wilkinson. Rogers set fire to Maxwell Brown’s car and then painted “let her go, she is mine” across a wall outside his home.The court heard how Ms Evans-Wilkinson was a drug user who sought shelter with Mr Brown as Rogers had subjected her to physical abuse.