An “evil” postman who complained about being lonely hours before he severed his girlfriend’s head and tried to dismember her body has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years.
Ewan Methven, 27, murdered Phoenix Spencer-Horn, 21, in the flat they shared in East Kilbride, near Glasgow, on 16 November last year after she returned from her waitressing job.
The High Court in Glasgow heard the killer dumped his partner’s body parts in their hallway and failed to call emergency services for two days whilst sending sickening texts to her worried mother pretending she was still alive.
Judge Lord Matthews told Methven at sentencing on Monday that he had committed “an appalling crime” and would serve a minimum of 23 years before being eligible for parole.
The 21-year-old victim had described Methven as her “soulmate” on social media, saying in one TikTok video: “Life is so much more beautiful and full of colour with you.
Phoenix was stabbed 20 times using three knives in an attack that unfolded around midnight after the couple had ordered a takeaway to their Glen Lee flat.
Earlier that day, Methven had texted his girlfriend complaining of feeling “lonely” because of her work shifts at the Strathaven Hotel and Roasted café in Lanarkshire.
After murdering Phoenix, Methven spent the weekend driving her red Corsa, watching pornography on his phone and attempting to buy cocaine. He sent messages to her mother, Alison Spencer, claiming Phoenix was asleep after they had been “drunk.”
“Hey, Phe isn’t up yet, I’ll get her to text you when she is x,” read one message from Methven to the victim’s mother.
Using Phoenix’s phone, he also sent a message pretending to be her: “Hey, sorry just woke up xxx.”
The court heard that around midnight on 16 November, downstairs neighbours heard “loud noise and hurried footsteps” coinciding with increased activity on a step-counting app at 12:13am.
Prosecutor Christopher McKenna told the court: “The accused murdered his girlfriend, Phoenix Spencer-Horn, in the top-floor flat they shared. Late on Saturday November 16, he strangled her and stabbed her.”
“Her mutilated and decapitated body was discovered only on November 18,” he added.
When Methven finally called 999 at midday on 18 November, he claimed: “I had a psychotic break and killed my wife.”
He told the operator he had taken steroids, cocaine and alcohol, adding: “I think there was something else in it… it was f****** horrible.”
The couple’s neighbour, Toni Brown, 25, who lives directly next door, described the horror of discovering what happened.
“I think I stayed out of the house for about a week after that. I couldn’t even sit. It was horrific,” she told Sky News.
“It’s horrific. It gives me shivers thinking about it. It is crazy to think I stayed next door to a monster like that.”
Ms Brown recalled: “There was a bad smell in my house in the early hours of the morning she was found. There was a bad smell in my kitchen basically where the walls join together.”
Methven’s own defence lawyer, Tony Graham KC, told the court society would see his client as the “personification of evil.
“He knows those who are related to Phoenix will never forgive him, as he will never forgive himself. He can’t provide an explanation,” Mr Graham said.
The case has raised fresh questions about gender-based violence in Scotland. Fiona Drouet, whose daughter Emily took her own life in 2016 after being abused by her boyfriend, now campaigns on violence against women.
There is another mother and father that have just been plunged into utter hell,” Ms Drouet told Sky News, reacting to Phoenix’s death.
Ms Drouet, who set up the charity Emily’s Test in her daughter’s name, added: “Somebody once said to me that if god came to you and said, ‘I am going to give you this beautiful daughter, but you’ll only have her for 18 years and then we need to take her back, would you still want her?’ and I would take those 18 years and go through the pain rather than have nothing.”
Detective Chief Inspector Susie Cairns said: “My thoughts remain with Phoenix’s family and friends as they continue to try to come to terms with what happened.”
“Violence such as this is never acceptable in our communities, and we will work tirelessly to ensure those responsible are brought to justice,” she added.
Methven pleaded guilty on 17 June to murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice. He showed no emotion as he was led from the dock to begin his life sentence.
Follow for more updates on Britannia Daily
