A postman who murdered and decapitated his 21-year-old girlfriend before searching for internet pornography 170 times has been jailed for a minimum of 23 years.
Ewan Methven, now 27, murdered Phoenix Spencer-Horn in the home they shared in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, on November 16 2024, after the couple ordered a takeaway to their flat in Glen Lee.
In the hours before the killing, Miss Spencer-Horn had texted her mother to say they were eating dinner.
Around midnight, neighbours reported hearing “increased activity” in the top-floor flat.
The High Court in Glasgow was told that Methven attacked Miss Spencer-Horn, stabbing her 20 times, including 10 times in the face, before mutilating her body and severing her head, the court heard.
Methven had also strangled her, searched for internet pornography 170 times and made repeated attempts to buy cocaine, before spending the weekend driving around in Miss Spencer-Horn’s red Corsa, and texting her mother pretending she was still alive, according to prosecutors.
On the day of the murder, Methven had sent a message to his partner of two years, saying that her waitress shifts made him “lonely”, the court heard.
Miss Spencer-Horn was described as being in “good spirits” by colleagues at a hotel where she worked, and had replied to her boyfriend apologising, the court heard.
After the murder, Methven – who had met his partner at a family party – texted Miss Spencer-Horn’s mother, Alison Spencer, pretending to be her.
He texted: “Hey sorry I’ve just woken up xxx” before searching for pornography, the court heard.
On November 18, at about midday, he dialled 999 and told a call-handler: “I had a psychotic break and killed my wife.”
He said: “We were messing about, I take steroids and was taking cocaine and alcohol, I think there was something else in it … it was f****** horrible.”
He was transferred to a senior police officer, and said: “I just want to go to jail”, and added: “I have been out my face, I can’t remember what happened. I have been driving about all weekend.”
Police officers discovered Miss Spencer-Horn’s mutilated body hidden under a towel. Methven admitted attempting to remove the limbs and torso from her body with a knife or other instrument.
Prosecutor Christopher McKenna previously said that on November 17, Methven accessed pornography from about 8am until about 6.30pm and was noted to have accessed a pornographic video site 170 times, according to forensic analysis.
Methven pleaded guilty to murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice at the High Court in Glasgow.
The court heard he had no previous convictions and, on Monday, he was jailed for 23 years after appearing by videolink at the High Court in Glasgow.
Defending, Tony Graham KC, said, in 2024, Methven realised he had an addiction problem, and had written a letter to the judge saying “in relation to the harm that could cause, it could only be harm to himself”, regarding cocaine, steroids and other drugs.
Mr Graham read from the letter, which said: “I know how loved Phoenix was and how she made her family complete. I can’t believe I’ve taken her from them.”
He told the court: “Mr Methven is in a position where he can offer no explanation as to why the course of events which led to Phoenix’s death took place, other than his own self-administration of drugs.”
He said that Methven “insists he has taken the life of a person he loved, and appreciates he has caused an enormous void in that family”, and “struggles to reconcile how he could have caused that destruction”, the court heard.
Mr Graham said that Methven had been “taken into family home of Phoenix’s family and appreciates in that that two-year period he was adopted into that family”, and described the murder as “a betrayal”, the court heard.
However, he said Methven could not explain why it happened, and added: “He has flashbacks but no real memory as to how things progressed to this destruction of human life.”
Imposing a life sentence, Judge Lord Matthews said Methven had admitted a “truly dreadful crime”.
Lord Matthews said: “At 21 years old, she was standing at the threshold of what should have been a long and fulfilling life. You were a trusted member of her family but betrayed that trust.
“For reasons no-one will ever understand you strangled her and stabbed her 20 times, including 10 in the face. You robbed her of all dignity in death by decapitating her and trying to dismember her.
“For two days after, you indulged in drug abuse and watching pornography, contacting her mother and pretending to be her.”
He added: “The way you treated this innocent young woman after her death meant her family did not have the comfort of saying goodbye to her.”
The judge told Methven: “The letter by you answers none of the questions which must be plaguing the family. You blame the effect of substances but that is no excuse.”
