The killing of a woman who grew up in the Isle of Man has caught the attention of streaming platform Netflix.

The first episode of a 10-part docu-series called ‘When Missing Turns to Murder’ focuses on the killing of Joanna Simpson.

She was 46 years old when her estranged husband, Robert Brown, reported her missing in Ascott, Berkshire.

He was a former British Airways pilot, and in 2010 was sentenced to 26 years in prison after being found guilty of killing Joanna Simpson with a claw hammer.

After he committed the act, he lifted her lifeless body and placed it in the back of his car.

Their kids, who were in a nearby room when Brown killed his wife, unaware of what had taken place, were sat metres away from their mum’s dead body, as they were driven to Brown’s pregnant girlfriend’s house.

After dropping the children off, he buried Joanna in a grave that he had already dug out, not far from the spot where his children used to play.

Brown is due to be freed from prison on licence later this year, without facing a parole hearing, after serving half of his 26-year sentence.

The victim’s mother Diana Parkes, who lives in the island, is running a campaign to keep the killer behind bars, and in February she asked then-Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to intervene and block his release.

He promised to review the case carefully before announcing his decision in September, yet he has since been replaced by Alex Chalk.

Earlier this summer, Mr Chalk told The Times that he might employ a ministerial veto that overrules the decision of the parole board or force Brown’s case to be brought before the parole board again.

The children stayed with Diana after Joanna’s death, aged nine and 10 at the time of the killing.

The hour-long episode interviews two of Joanna’s friends, her mother, a journalist for the local newspaper in Windsor, who reported on the case, and an investigating officer. It tells the story of Joanna, her marriage with Brown, the killing, and what the interviewees describe as a heart-breaking jury decision to find Brown not guilty of murder.

The episode portrays Joanna as a sociable, funny and dedicated mother, who had been trapped in an abusive marriage. It is now available on Netflix, in the docu-series’ second season which was recently released.