A former butcher has been found guilty of murdering a woman he met in his local pub in a sexually motivated attack before dismembering her body.
Christopher May, 50, invited Tracey Woodford back to his flat in Pontypridd, south Wales, where he strangled her and then looked at pornography for three hours.
Two detectives carrying out routine inquiries into 47-year-old Woodford’s disappearance were stunned after pulling back a shower curtain in May’s home and discovering something resembling a scene from a horror film.
Woodford’s torso was found stuffed in a rucksack in May’s cupboard, while her head was later discovered inside a storm drain. May was said in court to be a sexual predator fixated on women with red hair – like Woodford.
The jury’s verdict, which came after less than an hour of deliberations, was met with cries of “yes” from the public gallery at Cardiff crown court.
Woodford’s family described May as a monster. In a statement they said: “His action on that night in April and over the following days with what he did to Tracey’s body has destroyed us all.
“We simply cannot understand how anyone can treat another human being in this way. The thoughts and visions of what he did to Tracey has haunted us every day for the last seven months and is something we will never get over.
“People say time is a great healer, but we can honestly say no amount of time will heal our pain or fill the hole this monster has left in our family.”
The family described Woodford as a “very kind, caring and loving person who didn’t have a bad bone in her body”.
Woodford met May at the Skinny Dog pub in Pontypridd on 21 April and they left together after closing time.
When Woodford failed to return home and calls to her mobile went unanswered, her family contacted police. Officers went to May’s flat and discovered human body parts.
Roger Thomas, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution says that this was a brutal, vicious and sexually motivated murder. After her death she was mutilated and dismembered. These actions were carried out deliberately and methodically with the intention of concealing her body parts and thereby evading detection.”
The jury was told that Woodford lived with her mother and brother in the village of Rhydyfelin. “Apart from collecting money at the post office, going to the shops and visiting local pubs, she did not go out very much,” Thomas said.
In the witness box, May claimed he killed Woodford after a row. He said: “I woke up and saw Tracey standing by my bed. She had my wallet in her hands. She was looking inside. I said to her: ‘What are you doing you thieving bitch?’ ... She then came at me flailing her arms.
“I lost control and do not really know what happened. The next thing I remember Tracey was dead.”
May said afterwards he felt sick at what he had done, but, fearing arrest, he said he decided to get rid of the body. “I thought if I cut it up, then I could hide it,” he told the court.
