Couple face life in jail for dismembering woman’s body and dumping it in park
A couple have admitted to murdering a London woman and disposing of her body in a busy park.
The remains of Sarah Mayhew, 38, was found in Rowdown Fields, south London, in April of this year.
Now, Gemma Watts, 49, and Steve Sansom, 45 – both of whom are said to have known Ms Mayhew – were arrested and charged with her murder and are facing life sentences.
Learn more about femicide
- On average, one woman a week is killed by a partner/ex-partner.
- Of the 249 female domestic homicide victims between March 2020 and March 2022, the suspect was male in a staggering 241 cases.
- Women's Aid have found that women are over three times more likely to be killed by a partner than by not wearing a seatbelt
- A Killed Women survey found that only 4% of bereaved family members said their loved one’s killing was not preventable at all
- And Femicide Census found that 53% of the perpetrators of femicide in 2020 had a history of violence to women
Sansom is believed to use a profile name of Red Rum on Facebook, which is murder spelt backwards.
On March 10, a post appeared on the Red Rum account reading: ‘Best friends are those who don’t say anything when you show up at their door with a dead body. They just grab a shovel and follow you.’
Sansom, of Burnell Road, Sutton, south-west London, had previously admitted murder and perverting the course of justice by dismembering Ms Mayhew’s body, distributing the parts at ‘various locations’ and cleaning up the scene.
Watts pleaded guilty to murder and perverting the course of justice, but denied three charges of making indecent images of a child, which will lie on the court file.
After Watts’ plea at the Old Bailey, Judge Mark Lucraft KC adjourned sentencing to a date to be fixed in January.
Watts, who was linked to the crime scene by phone evidence, was remanded into custody.
Both defendants are facing life sentences.
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