'Evil monster' who knifed his wife, 26, to death before cutting her body into hundreds of pieces jailed for life
8 April 2024, 14:12 | Updated: 8 April 2024, 16:17
A husband who cut his wife's body into 224 pieces and then paid a friend £50 to help him dump her remains in a river has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 19 years.
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Nicholas Metson, 28, stabbed Holly Bramley, 26, at least four times in March 2023 before dismembering her and storing her body parts for a week in the kitchen larder at the flat they shared in Shuttleworth House, Stamp End, Lincoln.
Lincoln Crown Court heard Metson tried to cover up what he had done by purchasing 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 by offering him £50 to help with a "job".
Ms Bramley's remains were discovered by a member of the public, who initially thought they belonged to 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 going into her flat on March 17.
Reports emerged last week that ‘evil’ Metson had a history of being cruel to animals and had previously punished his wife by killing their pets in gruesome ways.
A source told MailOnline that Metson once dumped Ms Bramley's new puppy in a washing machine, leaving her to discover the dead dog inside with the drum still spinning.
He killed her hamsters by putting them in a food blender and the microwave oven, and once fled to a police station with her pet rabbits to escape him.
After he knifed his wife to death, he searched online to find out 'What benefits do I get if my wife has died' and 'Can someone haunt me after they die.'
The court heard some of Ms Bramley's remains, including parts of her heart, have never been recovered.
Metson initially denied murder before changing his plea to guilty before the trial.
On Monday, he was jailed for life, with a minimum sentence of 19 years and 316 days.
Killed Women, a campaign organisation and network for bereaved families whose daughters, mothers, sisters or other relatives have been killed by men, have described this as a "woefully inadequate sentence for such a horrific crime".
"How can this be justice? What sort of message does this put out there?" they added.
Before her remains were found and while Ms Bramley was missing, Lincolnshire Police attended the flat they shared, with Metson telling them his wife had left their home on March 19 with two members of a local mental health crisis team.
Officers noticed a "strong smell of bleach and ammonia" in the flat, spotted a saw on a towel, bloodstained sheets in their bathroom and a large bloodstain on their bedroom floor.
After discovering 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 of his mobile phone 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".
Read more: Mother of six found dead in suspected murder-suicide, as ex-husband also dies
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 on April 5 and charged with obstructing a coroner.
Hancock admitted obstructing a coroner, as well as unrelated offences of attempting sexual communication with a child and drug offences.
He was jailed for three years and three months in total.
Read more: Man charged with murder after woman, 25, found dead in car in street
'Heinous act'
In a statement following the sentencing, Women's Aid said:
"Holly was brutally murdered by her husband, who then tried to cover up this heinous act.
"It is a tragic reality that in the last three years, an average of at least one woman per week was murdered by her current or former partner, with one in four women experiencing domestic abuse at some point in their lives.
"It is essential that those committing these vile crimes face punishments that fit the severity of the offence, and that women reporting domestic abuse are taken seriously, believed and protected.
"Our thoughts today are with Holly's family and loved ones."
