Holly Bramley was murdered by her husband, Nicholas Metson, at their Lincoln home in March 2023.
Metson, 28, murdered Holly, 26, in an act that police have described as ‘barbaric’ – stabbing her multiple times before he dismembered her body into 224 pieces and keeping her body parts stored for a week in the kitchen larder at the flat and disposed of them in the River Witham.
Ms Bramley’s remains were discovered by a member of the public in the river on the evening of 25 March – more than a week after she was last seen.
The walker who found the body initially thought the remains belonged to an animal until he noticed a human hand. Some of Ms Bramley’s remains, including parts of her heart, have never been recovered.
Holly and Metson met in 2016 and married five years later. But the family had early doubts.
Holly is one of triplets and one of her brothers discovered Metson had a conviction for sharing explicit photos of a previous partner.
Holly’s mum, Annette, could see the warning signs of her daughter’s abusive relationship.
But the animal-loving 26-year-old was ‘smitten’ with a man who was deeply manipulative and dangerous, she says.
‘When I think about what Holly went through. She couldn’t see what we could see. There’ll be many, many more girls just like that.
Annette says: ‘He convinced Holly he’d pleaded guilty to someone else’s offence. He brainwashed her.
She recalls how Metson ‘swept Holly off her feet’ and quickly took her away from home.
‘He managed to convince her that anything outside of just the two of them was not important.’
Annette adds: ‘He had convinced Holly that she shouldn’t have any contact with family. He stopped her from contacting any of us via social media. We were all blocked.’
At one point, the family thought Holly would see the red flags. She reported Metson to the police for killing her pet hamsters and puppy.
‘We said to her, ”if he can do that to animals, think of what might happen to you”. But again, he brainwashed her,’ says Annette.
The family say he convinced Holly to say she had killed the animals. Their fears for her safety grew.
Metson initially denied murder before changing his plea to guilty before the trial. He was jailed for life, with a minimum sentence of 19 years and 316 days.
