'Jigsaw murder victim had eyes, ears and tongue cut out'

By Court Reporter

A COUPLE cut the eyes, ears and tongue from the severed head of a man they had murdered, a jury was told today (Wednesday January 13).

Speaking at St Albans Crown Court, prosecutor Stuart Trimmer QC warned the hearing that the allegations against Stephen Marshall, 38, and Sarah Bush, 21, would "unavoidably contain shocking details" and that there was no way he could avoid telling them the "unpleasant, gruesome" facts.

Mr Trimmer said 49-year-old Jeffrey Howe, pictured – whose torso and upper arms were discovered in Gore Lane in Barwick, near Much Hadham, and whose right leg was found in a lay-by off the A10 near Puckeridge – was murdered and mutilated by the pair at his London home between March 8 and 9 last year.

He told the jury the direct cause of the kitchen salesman’s death was stabbing and added: "Substantial quantities of blood must have been shed in the course of the murder and in the cutting up and dismembering of the body."

Mr Trimmer argued Marshall and Bush then dumped parts of Mr Howe’s body at locations across the UK in order to cover their tracks. His left leg was found dumped in a blue plastic sack at Cottered near Buntingford on March 22 and his left forearm was discovered a week later in Wheathampstead.

On March 31, his severed head was found in a Leicestershire field. The prosecutor said his eyes, ears and tongue had been removed, as had the structures within his neck, adding: "The removal of the parts missing had been undertaken with skill and precision. It was carried out by someone who has experience of such activity."

The final discoveries were made in Puckeridge and Barwick on April 7 and 11, leaving Mr Howe’s hands as the only part of him yet to be recovered.

Marshall, of Borehamwood, and Bush, of Southgate in London, have both pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Howe. Marshall has admitted dismembering the body, dumping the pieces and misleading police about the dead man’s whereabouts, but Bush denies these charges.

The trial continues.

From: http://www.hertsandessexobserver.co.uk/hertsandessexobserver-news/displayarticle.asp?id=476500