A couple who killed a woman and dumped her dismembered body in different parts of south London have been jailed for murder.
Steve Samson was out of prison on a life licence for the murder of a taxi driver in 1998 when he and his partner, Gemma Watts, killed Sarah Mayhew, 38, at his flat in Sutton last spring.
The murder “involved sexual and sadistic content”, according to the judge at the Old Bailey, who sentenced Samson, 45, to life imprisonment with a whole-life order, meaning he will never be released from prison.
Watts, 49, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years, and will spend the rest of her life on licence if she is ever released.
Both were sentenced to five years for perverting the course of justice, to run concurrently.
Mayhew, who lived in New Addington, on the outskirts of Croydon, had met Samson on a dating website years before.
She was never seen again after she accompanied Samson back to his ground-floor flat at about 11pm on 8 March 2024, where Watts – who was in a “kinky” relationship with Samson – was waiting.
The judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, said Mayhew “was an innocent woman lured to that flat to die”, adding that the couple had killed her to act out a “bloodthirsty and wicked fantasy”.
A stream of messages between Watts and Samson about bestiality, humiliation and causing hurt was outlined at their sentencing hearing in court.
“Prior to the murder, the defendants had exchanged a range of depraved messages … indicating a desire on their part to kill victims whilst involved in sexual activity with them …” the prosecutor Tom Little KC told the court.
Their “depraved conversation about sexual activity” evolved into more than a fantasy, the court heard.
The police investigation found that when Samson told Watts that he was going to invite Mayhew to his home, Watts had replied: “Only if it’s a deal she ain’t leaving in one piece,” to which Samson replied: “OK”. Further messages were sent that indicated a sexual and sadistic motivation, the police said.
DNA tests found traces of Mayhew’s blood in the bedroom and elsewhere in Samson’s flat.
It is believed Mayhew was murdered on 8 March, the day she entered Samson’s flat. Two days later, Samson was captured buying a hacksaw, blades and a bucket. Watts was also seen on CCTV buying cleaning products, including bleach and scourers, and a silver incinerator bin.
“Having committed the murder they then made very extensive efforts to pervert the course of justice over a number of days,” Little told the court. He added that the murder had been planned and premeditated.
Nearly a month after Mayhew died, her remains were discovered in Rowdown Fields in New Addington by a dog walker. Other body parts were found in the River Wandle in Mitcham.
Mayhew had two children, aged 12 and 15 when she was killed, and had “the rest of her life ahead of her”, said DCI Martin Thorpe, from the Specialist Crime Command.
In a victim impact statement, Mayhew’s mother, Angela, said of her daughter: “It breaks my heart she is not around.”
Her father, David, thanked the defendants for pleading guilty and saving his family from the ordeal of sitting through a trial. He added: “That said, whatever sentence you may receive will never compare to the pain you have caused us.
“I ask myself the same question all the time: why did you have to kill her? Maybe I will never know.”
