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UK: A 28-year-old man in the UK repeatedly stabbed his wife and then chopped up her body over 200 pieces before dumping the remains in a river wrapped in plastic bags with the help of a friend.
He admitted murder without giving a motive and will be sentenced on Monday (8 April). On March 25, 2023, the remains of 26-year-old victim Holly Bramley were found in the River Witham in Bassingham, Lincolnshire, eight days after she was reported missing.
According to the Police, the 28-year-old accused, identified as Nicholas Metson of Lincoln city, had previously denied killing his wife. Metson likely stabbed his wife several times in the bedroom and chopped the body in the bathroom. He then put the pieces in plastic bags and stored them in a kitchen larder, a cold area for storage of food, before getting rid of them.
The police said that a second man, Joshua Hancock (28), had also pleaded guilty to disposal of a corpse. Almost a week later and before police arrived at his door, he paid his friend £50 to help him dispose of the body parts. “Just got £50 for disposing of a body,” the friend wrote in a text message, the court was told..A day later, a morning walker found plastic bags floating in the River Witham.
One bag contained a human hand and another contained Ms Bramley’s shaved head. In total, divers found 224 body parts, some of which were still missing. The court was told the body had been mutilated in such a way that it was impossible to determine the cause of death.
Ms Bramley’s mother told the court her daughter had been married for just 16 months and the “evil monster” had not allowed her to see her family for years and they were on the verge of separation when he killed her. After killing his wife, he sought answers to questions such as “If my wife dies, what will I get” and “Can anyone bother me after I die?”
Ms Bramley had once fled home with her pet rabbits and sought police help after he killed her hamsters by putting them in a food blender and microwave oven. He also put their new puppy in the washing machine, but Ms Bramley found the dead animal moving around inside the machine.
On March 24, Lincolnshire Police arrived at the couple’s home for a welfare check on Ms Bramley after receiving a distress report. When Metson opened the door, he claimed he was the victim of domestic abuse by his wife and showed policemen a bite mark on his hand.
A UK court was told the wound was caused when Ms Bramley tried to free herself from her husband after he murdered her a few days earlier. Policemen also found blood-soaked sheets in the bathtub, several black stains on the floor and a strong smell of ammonia and bleach throughout the house.
Metson later told police his wife had gone off with a women’s aid group a few days earlier.The killer, who is to be sentenced on Monday, has not revealed how or why he killed his wife. However, his lawyer claimed her diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was a reason for the murder.
