THE Jigsaw Killer left cops gruesome clues as he scattered body parts across the UK in a month-long reign of terror.
A severed leg, hacked off from the thigh, was discovered wrapped in blue plastic in the sleepy village of Cottered in Hertfordshire on March 22, 2009.
A week later, a left forearm from the same cadaver was found by traumatised dog walkers around 25miles away in Wheathampstead.
After two days, another gruesome find was made nearly 100miles away in Asfordby.
Police responded to calls from a terrified farmer who spotted a human head in his field.
To their horror, the eyes, nose, tongue and ears had been removed.
But the Jigsaw Killer wasn’t finished, a week later the right leg was uncovered by a pest control employee in a layby on the A10, in Puckeridge.
Detectives were then notified of a torso, right arm and upper left arm being left in Standon on April 11.
Cops feared they were dealing with a skilled surgeon as the limbs were cut “to almost surgical standards”.
And, the torso offered the first clue as to how the victim was killed – two brutal stab wounds.
But the force were still unable to identify the body and employed facial reconstruction experts to create an image for appeals.
The Jigsaw Killer’s victim was revealed as Jeffrey Howe after his adopted brother came forward to report he’d been missing for weeks.
Further searches led them to Jeffrey’s home in Southgate, North London.
Detectives discovered he had been renting a room to friend Stephen Marshall, then 38, and his girlfriend Sarah Bush, 21.
Marshall, a personal trainer, had previous criminal convictions but met Jeffrey when they worked as kitchen salesmen together.
The lodger and his girlfriend, who was a sex worker, had stopped paying rent shortly before the murder and cops started gathering evidence against Marshall.
They discovered the victim’s bed had been taken out and replaced with a blow-up mattress – as well as significant blood stains in the bedroom.
On March 9, the morning after Howe was killed, Marshall texted his boss: “Jus Letting u no I need 2day off c u 2moro”.
Receipts also revealed Marshall and Bush had bought cleaning products the same day.
CCTV then showed Marshall removing the missing mattress from the building.
After detectives reviewed the footage, they arrested Marshall on suspicion of murder on April 23.
Forensic testing later matched fibres from tape on Jeffery’s dismembered body to those found on the blow-up mattress.
Further evidence stacked up against Marshall when ANPR cameras flagged the victim’s car being driven by him after the killing.
A week after his murder, Marshall sold the motor and cashed cheques to himself from the victim’s bank account.
He was also caught trying to sell Jeffrey’s furniture.
Detectives pieced together the brutal murder and argued Marshall had taken advantage of his friend by refusing to pay him more rent.
When Jeffrey stood up to him, the killer stabbed him to death while girlfriend Sarah Bush held a pillow over his face then hacked his body to pieces.
Marshall stood trial in January 2010 and tried to pin the brutal murder on girlfriend Bush.
But in a shocking twist, he suddenly changed his plea and admitted he had killed Jeffrey.
The case prosecutor Stuart Trimmer, told the Metro years later: “Stephan Marshall was a big, bulky man. He was difficult, I know his counsel had a great deal of trouble with him.
“Sarah Bush meanwhile was a sad character who associated herself with the wrong people.”
Stuart also spoke of how Marshall carried out the dismemberment.
“He didn’t cut any bones, he cut around the joints if he could manage it,” he said.
“None of the bones were damaged. We had a very senior expert come down from Edinburgh and, in response to how Jeffrey Howe’s body had been cut up, he said ‘if my students had done it [this way] in a dissection, I would have given them a merit'”.
It emerged Marshal had been a ‘butcher’ for the infamous Adams crime family – and was responsible for dismembering bodies in preparation for them to be disposed of.
'Jigsaw Killer' murder timeline
November, 2008 – Jeffrey Howe offers Stephen Marshall, 38, and his girlfriend Sarah Bush, 21, a place to stay in his flat.
March 8, 2009 – Marshall fatally stabbed Jeffrey Howe in the chest two times, motivated by greed.
March 9 – Marshall texted his boss to say he wouldn’t be in work, and he bought cleaning supplies from a nearby shop.
March 22 – A member of the public found a severed left leg and foot in Cottered, Hertfordshire.
March 29 – Dog walkers stumbled upon a left forearm in Wheathampstead.
March 31 – The head, with eyes, tongue, nose and ears removed, was discovered by a farmer in Asfordby.
April 7 – A pest control worker unearthed a right leg in a layby on the A10, in Puckeridge.
April 11 – Detectives were notified of a torso, right arm and upper left arm being left in Standon.
April 23 – Marshall was arrested on suspicion of murder after cops find a cache of evidence mounting against him
January 12, 2010 – A trial against Marshall and Bush begins but Marshall pleaded guilty.
February 1 – Marshall was sentenced to serve a minimum of 36 years in prison.
February 1 – Bush was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for perverting the course of justice.
He had worked as a doorman in the 1990s for a club owned by the notorious clan, who were also known as the Clerkenwell Crime Syndicate.
The family tortured victims, chopping their limbs off, and amassed a £200million fortune through drug cartels, extortion and robbery.
Marshall would dissect the bodies and dump them in Epping Forest – admitting he had done this four times for the Adams.
He was handed a life sentence with a minimum of 36 years, while girlfriend Bush was given three-and-a-half years for perverting the course of justice.
Forensic psychologist Professor Leam Craig said: “To commit a murder is horrific, the dismembering of the body then disposing of the body is even more horrific.
“And then to have the sense of self confidence to drive round the country lanes with body parts in the boot – again even more horrific.
“But for Stephen Marshall, he would have seen this as a job to complete.”
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