Man cut up dead wife with electric saw

A “CYNICAL and cruel” killer who murdered his 21-year-old wife then dismembered her with an electric saw and hid her remains was told he would stay in prison for at least 22 years.

Unemployed Nicky Ward, 29, was jailed after a jury at Norwich Crown Court convicted him of murdering pub waitress Emma Ward at the home they shared in Rockland St Peter, Norfolk, in spring last year.

Judge Peter Jacobs imposed a mandatory life term and said Ward could not be considered for parole until he had spent 22 years in jail.

Detectives said no trace of Mrs Ward had been found and her family urged Ward to reveal where he had hidden her remains.

Ward denied murder, telling jurors he killed his wife accidentally in self-defence during a row and had no memory of dismembering her or disposing of her remains.

Jurors were told that relatives raised the alarm after Mrs Ward vanished in late March 2010.

Ward told police that his wife had left him for another man, but forensic investigations revealed that she had been killed in a bedroom, then dragged to the bathroom and cut up with a £55 (€61.86) saw bought in a local hardware store.

Inquiries showed that Ward had cleaned carpets and repainted – but not realised that his wife’s blood had seeped through to floorboards and left a trail for scientists to follow.