Ronald Haymes

In the novel A Murder is Announced, Captain Ronald Haymes of the South Loamshires was the husband of Phillipa and the father of Harry. Phillipa claimed that he had died in Italy during the war. The truth is that he was a deserter.

He died at Milchester General, after saving a child from being run over by a lorry.

Portrayals
In the 1985 BBC adaptation of the novel which formed part of the Miss Marple series, Ronald Haymes does not appear in person. However, just as in the novel, Hannah, the housekeeper at Little Paddocks tells the police she saw someone speaking to Phillipa. Ronald is also revealed as a deserter from the Royal Lancashire regiment and died in similar circumstances.

In the ITV 2005 adaptation of the novel, Ronald also does not appear in person but is mentioned as part of Phillipa's backstory. He also spoke to her at the summerhouse. Here, however, Ronald is not killed saving a boy in Milchester.

In Murder Party, the French adaptation of A Murder is Announced, Philippine Leroy (the Philippa Haymes parallel) claimed that her husband Albert had died. In this version, Mr Leroy was actually a burglar who was released from prison a few days prior to the opening of the story. In this version, it wasn't the housekeeper but Antoinette Combet (Julia Simmons) who saw Philippine giving money to a man in a barn.