David Pomphret, who bludgeoned his wife to death with a crowbar in a "frenzied" attack, has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years.
The 51-year-old hit Ann Marie over the head more than 30 times at the stables where they kept horses near their home in Winwick, Cheshire, on 2 November.
Pomphret insisted he was innocent but was "undone" after a speck of blood on his socks showed he was at the scene.
The Barclays IT worker, described as a "quiet man", was convicted of murder last Friday after a two-week trial.
Following the attack, Pomphret dialled 999 saying he had found his wife of 22 years lying in a pool of blood, "very dead".
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During the call, he added: "There is brain and blood everywhere, and it looks like she has had her head beaten in."
He denied planning the murder then tried to cover his tracks, telling the jury: "One of Marie's favourite TV programmes was CSI and one of the things they always said is you can't get rid of blood."
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Pomphret was given bail but was rearrested four months later after police found "airborne blood" on his socks, which was dubbed a "huge mistake".
He then had to change his story, the jury was told, and admitted manslaughter, tearfully telling Liverpool Crown Court he "killed the woman I loved".
