Life for 'barbaric' man who cut wife's body into pieces

A husband who cut his wife’s body into 224 pieces before paying a friend £50 to help him dump her remains in a river has been jailed for life.

- LYDIA PATRICK

Nicholas Metson, 28, stabbed Holly Bramley, 26, at least four times in March of last year before dismembering her and keeping her body parts stored for a week in the kitchen larder at the flat they shared in Lincoln.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Metson tried to cover up his “barbaric” act by buying large amounts of cleaning products and enlisting his school friend Joshua Hancock, 28, to help move the body parts to the River Witham in Bassingham after offering him £50 to help with a “job”. He also used her Facebook account to message her friends and trick them into thinking she was still alive, claiming she had left him and moved to Manchester while sending himself money from her bank account.

A search of his mobile phone later revealed Metson had made Google searches including “How to get rid of a dead body”, “What benefits can I get if my wife dies” and “Does God forgive murder”.

Bramley’s remains were discovered by a member of the public in the river on the evening of 25 March – more than a week after she was last seen. The man who found the body initially thought the remains belonged to an animal until he noticed a human hand. Some of Bramley’s remains, including parts of her heart, have never been recovered.