A man who chopped his wife’s body into more than 200 pieces before dumping her remains in a river in a reusable shopping bag has been jailed.
Nicholas Metson, 28, stabbed Holly Bramley, 26, to death at their flat in Lincoln, in the UK, then hacked her body in the bathtub.
The killer paid school pal, Joshua Hancock, £50 ($A93) to help dispose of her remains in the River Witham 16km from the home, The Sun reported.
Ms Bramley’s remains found in a number of shopping bags on March 25 last year.
Metson, described as an “evil monster” by his victim’s family, has now been jailed for life with a minimum of 19 years after pleading guilty to murder and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Lincoln Crown Court heard the couple married in 2021 but were on the verge of separating when Ms Bramley was stabbed to death.
On March 24, police attended the marital home after receiving a call regarding Ms Bramley’s welfare.
Metson claimed his wife had attacked him before leaving the flat to meet with two mental health workers.
Although the flat smelt of bleach and there were bloodstained sheets in the bath and a saw on the kitchen floor, officers left.
When they exposed Metson’s version of events as a lie, police returned later that day to find the saw had been stashed in a cupboard.
The killer joked Ms Bramley “might be hiding under the bed”.
He was arrested on suspicion of murder but gave a no comment interview to police.
The following day, a member of the public spotted plastic bags floating in the river so examined one.
The prosecutor, Gordon Aspden KC, told the court; “At this point he made a grim discovery.
“At first he could not believe what he had seen. He was looking at a severed hand,” Mr Aspden said.
A pathologist found four wounds consistent with a sharp incision but due to the brutality of the dismemberment, a cause of death could not be established.
Police later recovered a set of garden pruners, two knives and a claw hammer from the flat.
The prosecutor said Ms Bramley’s horror injuries went far beyond what was necessary to dismember her body.
“In short after murdering Holly he destroyed her,” Mr Aspden added.
Following the murder, heartless Metson withdrew £50 ($A93) from his wife’s bank account and made a number of chilling searches.
These included “What benefits do I get if my wife has died” and “Can someone haunt me after they die”.
Police also found CCTV showing Metson moving his wife’s remains from their 14th floor home using a shopping trolley.
He then put shopping bags in his car and paid former school friend Hancock £50 ($A93) to help him dispose of the remains.
Metson at first spun a web of lies to cover up his crimes but later pleaded guilty to murder.
It later emerged Metson received a referral order in 2013 for a domestic assault on a previous partner.
He was also given a community order for three offences of disclosing sexual images relating to another ex.
Metson later admitted breaching a restraining order relating to the same victim.
In victim impact statements, Ms Bramley’s family told how she had been subjected to “coercive control and manipulation” by the “evil monster”.
Her mum Annette Bramley fought back tears as she paid tribute to her “beautiful kind and loving” daughter who had her life ahead of her.
She also told how the family lives each day in “unimaginable pain which has cut so deep into our very being and left us shattered and broken”.
“The pain of losing a child is indescribable and something no parent should ever have to go through,” she added.
“The thought of (Holly’s) last moment being filled with fear and pain is something that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.”
This story originally appeared on The Sun and reproduced with permission