[6] Neighbours said that he was aggressive and argued about children playing, and said they had not seen him or his two Jaguar cars for about six months, believing that he rented out his ground floor two-bedroom flat.
[7][8] Stephen Marshall, 38, was a body builder and personal trainer, of Ayot Path, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, and formerly of Park Street, St Albans,[9] where he once owned a gym.
[11] Marshall "skillfully and cleanly" removed Howe's limbs,[15] which Home Office pathologist Simon Poole estimated would have taken at least 12 hours.
[11] After the murder, Marshall and Bush used Howe's bank account to buy a laptop, shoes, takeaways,[18] and other consumer goods and food.
They set up an account with online retailer Littlewoods, some of the purchases being made on a computer in St. Albans library.
[13] Detective Superintendent Michael Hanlon from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit led the investigation,[16] named Operation Abnet and involving up to 100 officers.
[5] To aid the investigation, police revealed that the victim was overweight, suffered from eczema, had bleached skin pigmentation on his legs, a fungal infection on his toenails,[19] and was missing two front teeth.
[11] The police used dental records to identify Howe from his remains[6] and discovered that Marshall had lived close to where the torso was found.
"[20] Taken to a station in Hertfordshire for questioning,[19] Bush told police that Marshall suffered "mood swings" and that she had been planning to leave him.
[11][20] The journey of Marshall and Bush to Leicestershire was traced from CCTV and Automatic number plate recognition.
[9] The IPCC is supervising a Metropolitan Police Service review of procedure of how Howe's missing person case was handled.
The trial began on 12 January 2010[28] and was held at St Albans Crown Court, with Stuart Trimmer QC prosecuting.
[30] Bush also changed her plea to guilty on 1 February,[16] and was sentenced to three years and nine months for perverting the course of justice by helping Marshall take Howe's head to Leicestershire[30] and was given a concurrent sentence of two years and three months for giving false information about Howe's whereabouts,[31] although she was acquitted of murder.
[11] He had attacked his first wife in 2003, and was arrested on suspicion of murdering Minesh Nagrecha in 1996 when his burnt body was found.
[33] Via his lawyer, Peter Doyle, Marshall admitted in court on 1 February to dismembering four more bodies between 1995 and 1998 and disposing of them in Epping Forest,[15] when he worked for the Adams crime family as a doorman for a London nightclub.