'Monster' husband kills wife, cuts her body into more than 200 pieces; had earlier grinded her hamsters in mixer

In a gruesome murder incident, a 28-year-old man stabbed his wife to death, chopped her body into more than 200 pieces and stored them in his kitchen for a week before dumping them in a river with the help of a friend.

Nicholas Metson, 28, of Shuttleworth House, Lincoln, admitted to murdering his wife Holly Bramley, 26, in March after weeks of denying the allegations and is due to be sentenced on Monday.

The court was told that he paid his friend, Joshua Hancock, £50 to dispose of his wife's remains after being kept hidden in their flat for nearly a week.

Bramley's body parts were found in the River Witham in March 2023.

Metson never gave a reason for how and why he had killed his wife, the court was told.

On March 24, Lincolnshire Police reached the couple's home for a welfare check on Bramley after receiving distress reports. When Metson answered the door, he claimed he was a victim of domestic abuse by his wife and showed the policemen a bite mark on his arm.

The wound occurred when Bramley tried to free herself from her husband as she was killed a few days earlier, the court was told.

Policemen noticed a strong smell of ammonia and bleach, bloodstained sheets in the bathtub and a towel on the kitchen floor. The police also spotted a number of large dark stains on the floor in the main bedroom.

Metson told police that she had left home with a local mental health support group on 19 March.

"At one point Metson even joked she might be hiding under the bed," the court was told.

The following day, plastic bags were discovered floating in the Witham River by a morning walker. One of the bags had a human hand and another Bramley shaved head. In total, divers found 224 body parts with some still missing, the court was told.

The court was told, it was likely the 26-year-old was stabbed multiple times in the bedroom before being moved to the bathroom where she was dismembered. Her remains were then stored in the kitchen larder.

After murdering his wife, he searched for questions like "What benefits do I get if my wife has died", "Can someone haunt me after they die" and "Can someone haunt me after they die".

CCTV footage played in court showed Bramley was last seen alive returning to her flat on 17 March.

Further CCTV footage showed Metson wearing a rucksack and using the flat's lift to move bags from the 14th floor to the ground floor in the early hours of 25 March.

Bramley's mother told the court that her daughter had been married for just 16 months and the "evil monster" didn't allow her to meet her family for years and the couple were on the verge of separating when he killed her.

Bramley had once fled her home with her pet rabbits and sought police help after he killed her hamsters by putting them in a food blender and the microwave oven. He also put her new puppy in a washing machine, only for Bramley to find the dead animal spinning inside the machine.