Poet and wife killer (7)
I believe the answer is:
whitman
'poet' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'wife killer' is the wordplay.
'wife' becomes 'w'.
'killer' becomes 'hitman' (hit man is a kind of killer).
'w'+'hitman'='WHITMAN'
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for whitman that I've seen before include "Walt . . . . . . ., American poet of 'Leaves of Grass'" , "Walt . . . . . . . great American poet" , "Slim < country and western singer" , "Walt --, US poet" , "American writer" .)