A jilted ex-boyfriend who battered his love rival and left him to die in a burning car has been jailed for life.
Mark Chilman, 52, struck 66-year-old former company director Neil Parkinson over the head before roasting him alive in a BMW X5.
He hoped to make it look like a suicide, even sending a 'confession' text which was quickly seen through.
The victim was discovered in the torched vehicle after police were called to a lay-by near the village of Cotheridge, Worcestershire, on December 12 last year.
The "sex-obsessed" handyman was convicted of murdering dad-of-two Mr Parkinson after finding out he was in a relationship with his ex-partner Juliet Adcock.
Jurors were told jealous Chilman carried out the brutal killing as he remained obsessed with the mum-of-three, who he considered his "property" and his "chunk of gold".
The sinister plot to get rid of Mr Parkinson was said to be part of a wider plan to "engineer a reconciliation with the woman he could not bear to see rejecting him".
After being dumped by Ms Adock last June, Chilman placed a tracker on her car and stole knickers from her £800,000 farm which he "cuddled every night".
He also left chilling messages written in lipstick on her bathroom mirrors which declared: “I love you forever."
He was even dubbed the "Layby Lurker" by Ms Adcock's family because he parked on the side of the road after dark near to her home in Bromyard, Herefordshire.
At Worcester Crown Court on Monday, Chilman, of Pencombe, Herefordshire, was told he would serve a minimum of 22 years.
Sentencing, Judge James Burbidge QC, described how the killer "lay in wait" when his victim drove away from the farm to care for his dementia-suffering mum, 94.
"When he got out of the vehicle, you struck him at least once with an object to back of his head, which rendered him unconscious," continued the judge.
"You arranged him in the driver's seat and poured petrol over him and the vehicle.
"Mercifully, Parkinson would not have known of the immense heat that engulfed him."
Judge Burbidge said evidence shows the murder had been plans for potentially weeks, with Chilman regularly staking out the area.
He left his own phone elsewhere in the hopes the cell sighting would give him an alibi, the court heard.
"In an interview with police, you told lie after lie and said you we were with Mr Parkinson, but he took his own life," said the judge.
When forensics showed a distressed fracture on the victim's skull, Chilman then had to tell "different lies", including that Mr Parkinson had died in an attempted insurance con.
The judge said in personal statements, Neil's son Christopher and his wife, Carol, described the loss of a "much loved" father, son, brother, grandfather and partner.
Christopher, 42, bravely stood to face his dad's killer in court, branding him "inhumane" and asked: "How could you be so heartless?"
The court was told how Mr Parkinson had been on his way home to Clifton upon Teme, Worcestershire, after spending the evening with Ms Adcock when he was attacked.
Chilman drove his unconscious body to a lay-by and used around 40 litres of petrol from two stolen jerry cans to set him on fire in the driver's seat of the car.
He later sent a "suicide text" to Ms Adcock, purporting to be from Mr Parkinson in the form of a confession.
It read: "I lead a double life. I use and abuse woman (sic). It goes like this. I've been taking women of (sic) there (sic) partners and husband's (sic) for a very long time and I get a buss (sic) from it."
But Ms Adcock said she knew the message had not been written by her partner because of the "appalling" spelling and grammar.
She also recognised other phrases that Mr Parkinson would never have used because he was "a gentleman".
The court was told how Chilman had remained obsessed with his ex and even bought the same perfume as her which he sprayed on clothes he stole from her.
