Evil killer who beheaded girlfriend Phoenix Spencer Horn & tried to dismember her body at Scots flat jailed for 23 years
Ewan Methven, 27,
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Ewan Methven has been caged for at least 23 years
Credit: Police Scotland
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He committed the savage killing at the flat in East Kilbride last November
Credit: Les Gallagher
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Phoenix's body was discovered by cops after Methven dialled 999
Credit: Les Gallagher
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Phoenix Spencer-Horn had been dating Methven for two years before her murder
Credit: fACEBOOK
The 27 year-old postman later dialled 999 himself insisting he had a drug-induced blackout and could not remember what he had done.
But, it emerged after stabbing the 21 year-old to
death
, he mutilated her
body
, pretended to her mother she was still alive while also trawling the
internet
for
porn
for hours.
Methven admitted to the gruesome
murder
as he appeared in the dock at the High Court in
Glasgow
.
Judge Lord Matthews ordered Methven to spend at least 23 years behind
bars
before he can be considered for parole.
The judge said: 'You pleaded guilty to a dreadful crime, namely the murder of
Phoenix
Spencer-Horn who was a much loved and sorely missed daughter, sister, niece cousin and friend.
'At age 21 and 134 days she was standing at the threshold of what should have been a long fulfilling life.
'You were a trusted member of her family and you betrayed that trust and robbed her of a life in the cruellest way.
'Not content with what you did to her, you robbed her of all dignity in death by decapitating her and tried to dismember her in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.
Most read in The Scottish Sun
'The way you treated her after her death meant that her family didn't have the comfort of saying goodbye to her.
'No punishment I can inflect or what I can say or do can be enough and the only sentence that I can impose is life.
Girl, 17, hands herself into police over murder of mom and stepdad who were gunned down three months ago
'I saw a letter written by you which answers none of the questions.
'You blame substances, but that is not an excuse.'
Lord Matthews added: 'I have rarely read such outpourings of grief as are contained in the Victim Impact Statements from her family, who have endeavoured to put into words what can never truly be encapsulated, the sadness and the deep sense of loss they all feel and will continue to feel thanks to what you did.
'The way you treated this innocent young woman after her death meant that her family did not even have the comfort of saying goodbye to her.'
Members of Phoenix's grieving relatives were at the sentencing.
The couple had started
dating
two years before the killing.
They had recently moved into the top floor one-bedroom flat in East Kilbride.
'No punishment I can inflect or what I can say or do can be enough and the only sentence that I can impose is life."
Judge Lord Matthews
Methven was employed by the Royal Mail while Phoenix - known as 'Phe' - held part times jobs at both the Strathaven Hotel and a local
coffee
shop.
Phoenix had been working on November 16 - she was described as in "good spirits".
Methven had texted her during her shift complaining of feeling "lonely" due to her hours. Phoenix apologised to her boyfriend.
The postman had also been working that morning. He told a colleague he was then going
home
to "chill".
Methven ordered a takeaway that night and the couple ate when Phoenix got back.
The young woman had contacted her
mum
at 9.37pm stating she was at home having dinner.
The court heard this was the last communication she had with her daughter.
"You were a trusted member of her family and you betrayed that trust and robbed her of a life in the cruellest way."
Judge Lord Matthews
It was around midnight that a downstairs neighbour heard "loud noise and hurried footsteps".
Prosecutor Chris McKenna said: "This coincided with increased activity recorded in an app measuring
steps
at 12.13am which was discovered upon later interrogation of Methven's phone.
"At that time, around or shortly after midnight on November 16 through to November 17, Methven attacked Phoenix by compressing her neck and repeatedly stabbing her to the head and body."
The court then heard of Methven's sick behaviour as his girlfriend lay dead including hacking at her with knives.
He repeatedly arranged to buy drugs via contact on his phone.
Killer's warped online posts
EXCLUSIVE BY GORDON TAIT
TWISTED Ewan Methven fantasised about violence from the age of 14.
In chilling Facebook posts from his school days, the warped postman wrote: 'You've always got that one person you choke to smash f**k out of.'
Other alarming remarks, uncovered from 2013 to 2014, read: 'It's kill or be killed' and 'I always get all tingly when angry and it makes me agitated'.
The disturbing posts emerged after the fiend this week admitted killing and butchering Phoenix at their flat in East Kilbride.
His now-deleted account listed his occupation as 'Local Drug Dealer & Occasional Pornstar'.
Referring to an unknown female, Methven told how he wanted to 'kick her big horrible f****** teeth oot' in a vile post dating back to December 2015.
And he raged: 'F*** peace everybody's gony die.'
In a reply to a friend, he claims: 'I wantae kill the f*** out of you' while in another he hails hard drugs as 'the bomb'.
Sources close to the brute described him as 'popular' in his hometown but with a mean streak and a 'dead' stare.
READ MORE HERE
Phoenix's mum Alison Spencer had also tried contacting her daughter on the morning of November 17.
Methven instead got in touch initially claiming "Phe is not up yet" and that he would get her to message when she was.
The sick killer then later pretended to be his girlfriend and sent a text to Alison.
It stated: "Hey sorry I've just woken up xxx". Another claimed Phoenix was apparently "all good".
The court heard, minutes after this, Methven logged on to the adult websites.
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Methven admitted to the gruesome murder
Credit: Supplied
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Police at the scene in East Kilbride last year
Credit: Les Gallagher
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Judge Lord Matthews handed down a life sentence
Mr McKenna: "Throughout the day on November 17, analysis of his phone and search
history
revealed that, for prolonged period over several hours, he accessed pornography from 8.12am through to 6.39pm.
"He was noted to have accessed a pornographic
video
site 170 times."
Methven was also captured on CCTV
driving
Phoenix's red
Vauxhall
Corsa.
Concerns were raised when Phoenix did not turn up for
work
on November 18.
Killer on 999 call: 'I know she is dead'
Methen then went on to dial 999 that afternoon stating he had had "a drug induced psychotic break" and that he had "killed" his girlfriend.
He told the operator: "The past day I have been trying to kind of muster up the courage to phone."
Methven added Phoenix remained in the hall with a knife beside her.
He said he had been taking steroids and cocaine, which he believed had been spiked.
Methven: "I totally blacked out through the full thing."
He mentioned having "stabbed" and "choked" Phoenix adding: "It was f***ing horrible."
Asked by an officer who came on the line if Phoenix could still be alive, Methven replied: "I know she is dead, mate - she is dead."
Cops made grim discovery in flat
Police soon arrived and made the grim discovery of Phoenix's remains.
Mr McKenna: "Phoenix's
naked
and mutilated body with her head decapitated was discovered by police covered up within the hall of their home.
"An attempt had also been made by him to sever her torso, right wrist and ankle from her body.
"There were two bloodstained knives lying
next
to the mutilated body.
A further bloodstained knife was found discarded in the bedroom."
Methven was described as "calm".
"You robbed her of all dignity in death"
Lord Judge Matthews
Among the remarks Methven made on his arrest were: "I could not stay here with her like that. I tried to dismember her. I moved her from the bath and put her there."
After he was put in a police cell, he said: "I guess this is what my next 25 years look like."
The full extent of Phoenix's injuries were revealed at the hearing.
She had suffered a total of 20 stab wounds - the fatal one to the chest. There were others in that area as well as to the face and buttocks.
'The ultimate betrayal'
Methven also pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice including the mutilation of Phoenix's body and lying to her mum.
His KC Tony Graham today told the sentencing that he was 'unable to offer an explanation to why the course of events led to her death other than his admission of drugs.'
The advocate quoted Methven who said: 'I know how loved she was and how she made her family complete and I can't believe I took her from them.'
Mr Graham then stated in his mitigation: 'Mr Methven appreciates there may be voids in relation to his memory and his ability to give an account of what took place.
'He has flashbacks to what took place but no real memory into how things occurred and progressed to the destruction of human life.
'He appreciates in the whole circumstances that during the two year relationship he was adopted [by her family] and to that family he delivered the ultimate betrayal.'
Judge Lord Matthews: 'I have rarely read such outpourings of grief as are contained in the Victim Impact Statements from her family, who have endeavoured to put into words what can never truly be encapsulated.
Read more on the Irish Sun
"The sadness and the deep sense of loss they all feel and will continue to feel thanks to what you did.
'The way you treated this innocent young woman after her death meant that her family did not even have the comfort of saying goodbye to her.'
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Phoenix Spencer-Horn
Credit: Police Scotland
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