Christopher Kerrell has been jailed for life for murdering his wife before using a digger to bury her body near his parents’ farm
A jealous husband who strangled and battered his wife to death as their three young children played nearby has been jailed for a minimum 25 years.
Christopher Kerrell attacked his wife Hollie before dumping her trussed-up body in his car boot and getting their children in the back seat.
The 35-year-old then drove to his parent’s farm where he put his wife’s body in the grab of a digger and drove her to woodland where he buried her in a shallow grave.
The court heard a chilling Facebook message had been exchanged between Hollie and her foster sister Lavinia Freeman on the morning of the murder.
Hollie said: ‘He’s just been in the shed and got a hammer.’
Her foster sister replied twice saying: ‘Ring the police. NOW!.’
Within an hour of burying her, Kerrell tried to report her as a missing person to the police.
Kerrell, of Knighton, Powys, first denied to police that he had attacked Hollie but later admitted it in police interview. He pleaded guilty to murder on the day of her trial and was jailed for life today.
Kerrell (right) murdered Hollie (right) at her home as their children played nearby
Company boss Christopher Kerrell, 35, tried to cover his tracks by joining a missing persons appeal for wife Hollie (both pictured). Her body was found four days later on farmland
Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard the pair were in a ‘toxic’ relationship and Hollie had spent the night in a hotel with another man.
They were living apart but Kerrell visited his children daily at the family home in the village of Knucklas, Powys.
Hollie was in the kitchen on the morning of Sunday April 22 when Kerrell turned up just after she had made a cup of tea.
Prosecutor Paul Lewis QC said: ‘Kerrell battered his wife in the kitchen of her home with their three young children nearby.
‘He used a hammer from the garden shed to bludgeon her to the right side of the head.
‘He then sat stride her and choked the life out of her body. He said it took him to minutes to throttle her. He cleared her blood, pausing to finish off the cup of tea Hollie had made for herself.’
The prosecutor added: ‘Within minutes he was calling family and friends saying he was concerned for her and that she had left home after packing a bag.’
A police search was launched for mother-of-three Hollie when she disappeared on April 22
The court heard ‘violent’ Kerrell had discovered his wife had started a new relationship with another man, Sam Edwards.
The pair spent the Friday night in a hotel together before the brutal murder less than two days later.
Text messages sent by Kerrell threatening to kill himself in front of the children were read to the court.
After the murder, Kerrell claimed Hollie had left him after a row and he had no idea where she had gone. He sent a text message to a friend saying: ‘Holly at yours?’
Prosecutor Mr Lewis said: ‘Within an hour of burying her body he tried to report Hollie as a missing person.
‘Police went to the home and noticed a strong small of bleach – Kerrell said the dog had fouled on the floor.
‘He maintained the pretence that he was actively looking for Hollie.
‘The children were asking where their mother was and one can only presume he span the same lie to them – that their mother had deserted them.’
Terrell tried to carry on as normal, visiting supermarkets and doing the school run.
The court heard Kerrell returned to the shallow grave and was seen by a neighbour who asked him what he was doing.
Mr Lewis said: ‘He said his dog had died and he had buried it there. That chance meeting was to prove the defendant’s undoing.’
The gruesome murder unfolded in the family’s home village of Knucklas, Powys
More than 100 police were already searching for Hollie’s body in the nearby countryside.
They concentrated their search at the spot where he was seen and Hollie’s body was found a few hours later.
Jailing Kerrell for 25 years, Judge Mr Justice Stephen Morris said the brutal murder had left Hollie’s children and mother with an ‘incalcuable loss’ which would stay with them for the rest of their lives.
‘Violent’ Kerrell had discovered his wife had started a new relationship
The judge told the court: ‘Christopher Kerrell killed his estranged wife with her three young children in the house at the time.
‘He then got a ratchet strap and wrapped her body in the foetal position to make her smaller and easier to dispose of.
‘He buried Hollie in a shallow grave and collected the children from his mother before returning home. It seems inevitable the children would have asked him where their mother was.’
The judge said Kerrell had deliberately misled the police by claiming Hollie had walked out after a row.
Judge Morris said: ‘Later, as the evidence became overwhelming, he finally admitted he had killed her and hidden the body. When he hit her with a hammer, Christopher Kerrell intended to kill his wife.’
Kerrell wrote to the court saying he had feelings of remorse but the judge said the ‘aggravating factors far outweighed the mitigating factors.’
Father-of-five Kerrell showed no emotion as he was led away to start his 25 years behind bars.
Speaking after the hearing, Detective Superintendent Anthony Griffiths said: ‘Hollie was a much loved mother, daughter and sister who was cruelly taken away from her family. She will never see her children growing up and nothing can ever make up for that.
‘The sentence handed down today shows the strength of what Christopher Kerrell did and the weight of his crime and the deceit he showed in trying to hide his actions from everybody.’