Chef 'killed wife with pan and put her in freezer'

A chef killed his wife with a griddle pan and put her body in a freezer, the Old Bailey heard today.

Peter Wallner was caught three years later after he put wife Melanie’s body in a wheelie bin outside their home in Surrey, the jury heard.

Wallner (aged 34), formerly of Hamilton Avenue, Cobham, Surrey, denies murder.

Bobbie Cheema, prosecuting, said Wallner admitted manslaughter, claiming he had not intended to do serious harm to Mrs Wallner (aged 30).

Miss Cheema told the jury: “The essence of the allegation is that on Sunday August 27, he killed his wife with at least one deliberate blow using a heavy cast iron pan.

“He then ordered a freezer from Argos and when it arrived a few days later, he put her body into the freezer.

“He left her there for nearly three years, telling friends, family and work colleagues and anyone else who inquired about her that she had died suddenly from natural causes.”