An 'evil monster' cut his wife's body into more than 200 pieces and then paid a friend £50 to help him dump her remains in a river.
Nicholas Metson, 28, stabbed Holly Bramley, 26, at least four times in March 2023 before dismembering her and keeping her body parts in the kitchen cupboard of the flat they shared in Shuttleworth House, Stamp End, Lincoln, for a week.
Lincoln Crown Court heard that Metson tried to cover up what he had done by buying large quantities of cleaning products and enlisting his school friend Joshua Hancock, 28, to help move the body parts to the River Witham in Bassingham by charging him £50 offer to help with a task".
Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC told the court on Friday that the "twisted and barbaric" way in which Metson cut his wife into at least 224 separate pieces "went far beyond what was necessary to move the body".
Mrs Bramley's remains were discovered by a member of the public, who initially thought they were those of an animal until he noticed a human hand in the river on the evening of March 25 - more than a week after she was last seen had entered her apartment. on March 17.
The court heard that some of Ms Bramley's remains, including parts of her heart, were never recovered.
Before her remains were found and while Mrs Bramley was missing, Lincolnshire Police visited the flat they shared, with Metson telling them that his wife had left their home on March 19 with two members of a local mental health crisis team.
Officers noticed a "strong odor of bleach and ammonia" in the apartment, saw a saw on a towel, blood-stained sheets in their bathroom and a large blood stain on their bedroom floor.
After discovering that what Metson had told them about his wife's disappearance was a lie, he was arrested and charged with her murder and perverting the course of justice.
A search on his cell phone showed that Metson had conducted Google searches including "How do I get rid of a dead body," "What benefits can I get if my wife dies" and "Does God forgive murder."
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He had also sent a message to Hancock, of Walnut Close in Waddington, in the early hours of March 25, offering him money in return for help with a "job".
Hancock was arrested April 5 and charged with obstructing a coroner.
In the days after his wife's murder, Metson used her Facebook account to message her friends and trick them into thinking she was alive.
He tried to convince them that she had left him and moved to Manchester, while he sent himself money from her bank account.
Extensive CCTV showed that in the early hours of March 25, Metson moved a large quantity of bags from his 14th floor flat into a lift before placing them in his yellow Peugeot.
Metson, who initially denied killing his wife but changed his plea to guilty on February 23, and Hancock, who pleaded guilty to disposing of a corpse with intent to obstruct or obstruct a coroner's inquest at the same hearing prevented, were confronted by members of Mrs Bramley's distraught family. in court on Friday.
Mrs Bramley's mother, Annette, called him an "evil monster" who had convinced his wife her family was abusive, and said her family had suffered "unimaginable pain".
Describing her daughter as "beautiful, kind and loving," she said: "Her last moments, filled with pain, will haunt us forever.
"Her life was taken by someone who clearly has no respect for human life.
'We were not allowed to see Holly in the years leading up to her murder. We were not allowed to see her before her death and because of his monstrous actions he made sure that we could not see her again after her death.
"Holly will always be in our hearts, we will never forget her and the impact she had on our lives."
Addressing Metson in the dock, Mrs Bramley said: "Your actions have forced me into a life sentence of grief, I am sure it will be a whole life sentence.
"I pray to God that you receive the same."
Mrs Bramley's sister Sarah-Jayne Lindop said: "You stole Holly's life in March 2023, but you stole her from our lives many years before that.
"You took her from a caring and loving family and the times she went back home or you told her she wasn't good enough or beautiful enough, you lured her back with what she wanted most in the future. world - to be a mother.
"We are shattered people who have spent the last twelve months living as shells of the people we were before.
"We have lost all hope of ever bringing Holly home, you carelessly took her life and threw her away like she was nothing, when to us she was everything.
"Our pain is so raw and probably always will be. Losing her in such a cruel and brutal way affected us so deeply that many of us needed specialist help to make ends meet.
"I really regret the day you ever saw our sister."
Allison Summers QC, defending Metson, said in mitigation that he had an autism spectrum disorder which would hamper his self-control and that prison "will impose certain additional difficulties on him".
She said: "This is someone who has autism at a moderate level. Combined with his learning difficulties, it is a serious neurological condition.
"This is a young man with these particular issues and what is clear is that this is someone who, despite certain appearances, is socially isolated and, for the most part, operates in bubbles.
"He makes no friends and is unable to see the world from the perspective of anyone other than himself.
"Despite all the horror of what this man has done, he is a vulnerable man himself and that is why Holly was his designated carer.
"You can be both vulnerable and the perpetrator of something terrible. Because prison is as difficult as it is for many people, this will bring significant difficulties for him.
"It will not have escaped the notice of the family that he does not appear to have shown any remorse.
"Because of his autism and other disorders, he has a very limited capacity for regret, he has great difficulty empathizing with others and reading the feelings of others."
Raglan Ashton, defending Hancock, said: "Mr Hancock deeply regrets his involvement and the role he played in the incident.
"His involvement was limited - it starts with a number of messages Metson sent to him asking him to do something for him.
"In my submission he is persistent on that request and the message is followed by a number of further messages. He repeats that request.
"Mr. Hancock didn't know what that job entailed. He started an activity that he had not invented himself.
"There are also mental health issues relating to Mr Hancock. He has autism, ADHD and is classified as below average in cognitive functioning.
"He recognizes the pain and fear that the family is feeling and he is quite shocked."
Judge Simon Hirst said: "It will be a source of enormous frustration for Holly's family that they will never be told how and why Holly died."
He postponed sentencing for both men until Monday.
