‘Sado-masochistic’ couple who sent depraved texts before murdering woman & scattering her severed remains are jailed
‘Sado-masochistic’ couple who sent depraved texts before murdering woman & scattering her severed remains are jailed
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A "SADO-masochistic" couple who sent depraved texts before they murdered a woman and scattered her remains have been jailed. Sarah Mayhew's severed body parts were discovered in Rowdown Fields, Croydon, last year - sparking a gruesome murder probe. Her "limbless torso" was then pulled from the River Wandle by contractors carrying out cleaning work weeks later.
![[Photo of Sarah Mayhew.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/38-year-olds-remains-discovered-950987037.jpg?strip=all&w=300)
Steve Sansom, 45, and his girlfriend Gemma Watts, 49, were today jailed after pleading guilty to murder and perverting the course of justice. Sansom was handed a rare whole life tariff - meaning he will never be released from prison. While Watts was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years.
![[Close-up selfie of Steven Sansom, wearing a grey t-shirt.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/38-year-olds-remains-discovered-950987071.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
It is a second life sentence for Sansom, who was previously convicted and jailed for murder in 1999. The monster stabbed popular cab driver Terrence Boyle, 59, in the throat and back before escaping with just £25 on Christmas Eve 1998. He was released from jail in December 2019 after his case was considered by the Parole Board.
![[Gemma Watts in court via videolink.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/38-year-olds-remains-discovered-950987054.jpg?strip=all&w=500)
The double killer was under probation supervision at the time of Sarah's murder. A court heard the couple's relationship was "characterised by sado-masochistic violence" that was so intense they "often referred to dying together if caught". They would send each other "depraved" messages about their macabre desire to kill victims while "involved in sexual activity" with them.
![[a map showing the remains of sarah mayhew found scattered across south london]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/RB_26_09_MAP_Sarah-Mayhew.jpg?strip=all&w=818)
