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A WOMAN was strangled after having sex with a stranger she met on a night out - and he then dismembered her body in the bath, a court heard today.
Tracey Woodford, 47, was found with her head and limbs missing after allegedly being killed by warehouseman Christopher May.
May, 50, is accused of strangling Miss Woodford after meeting her on a night out in a pub.
She was missing for four days before her dismembered body was found by police in May's flat just 500 yards from the pub.
"The circumstances surrounding her death are harrowing and disturbing.
"After her death she was mutilated and dismembered. Those actions were carried out deliberately and methodically with the clear intention of concealing what had happened."
Mr Thomas told the jury that the case would encourage "feelings of anger, horror and revulsion."
Cardiff Crown Court was told that Ms Woodford had been drinking at several pubs in Pontypridd before she met May and two others at the Skinny Dog pub.
The unemployed woman drunk coke with the three men who were described as "merry" by bar staff after drinking around eight pints each.
Above: Christopher May
There was "flirting" between her and May, the court heard.
Mr Thomas said: "She was heard being spoken to by someone who said: "If I buy you a few drinks maybe you'll come home with me tonight."
"She said that she was 'not that type of girl' and he said: "I'm just messing about".
Mr Thomas said: "Tracey Woodford said she was feeling cold and the defendant gave her his coat.
"When they left at 11.20pm she was still wearing the defendant's coat."
Barmaid Rebecca Williams told police she saw Tracey leaving after 11pm with May.
"This was the last time any saw her alive apart from May."
CCTV footage was shown to the jury of Tracey and May in the bar and later leaving.
May later claimed Tracey had left him at the nearby railway station after the pair had shared a kiss.
But Mr Thomas said this was a "blatant lie". She never returned home and was reported missing by her brother the next day.
Police went to the pub where they were told Tracey left with May and two officers then went to his house.
Mr Thomas said: "a short time later a terrible gruesome sight was revealed."
The court heard officers described Mr May as "considerably uneasy" and "visibly shaking" when they spoke to him.
Mr Thomas said PC Gardner had a look in the kitchen and bedroom and found nothing but then he went into the bathroom.
"When the officer pulled the shower curtain he was confronted with a sight he had never seen before - two human body parts.
"Two arms and two legs which still had socks on them and one of the hands had a finger which still had a ring on it.
"When asked where's the rest of her he said: "Some is in the cupboard and some is in the storm drain at Pontypridd rugby club"."
The court heard Miss Woodford was "slim, petite, five-foot tall with shoulder-length gingery-blonde hair".
Above: Tracey Woodford
She lived with her brother and mother at nearby Rhydyfelin, near Pontypridd.
"She was a single woman, not in employment, and apart from collecting money at the post office, shopping on behalf of her family, or visiting local pubs she did not go out very much," said Mr Thomas.
She was last seen by her family when she went into the local town centre in Pontypridd to pick up a ring she had placed a deposit on.
May pleaded not guilty to the murder of Miss Woodford.
Mr Thomas QC said: "Tracey Elizabeth Woodford was strangled and killed by this defendant, Christopher Nathan May, sometime during the night of Tuesday, April 21, and Wednesday, April 22, this year.
"He admits that his actions were responsible for her death but he disputes that his conduct amounts to murder.
"He says he was acting in self-defence or that it was an accident or that he lost his self-control.
"The prosecution submit this was a deliberate, brutal, vicious, and sexually-motivated murder."
The court was then shown a "gruesome collection" of knives which were found at May's Pontypridd property.
Mr Thomas said: "These are a gruesome collection of objects but it indicates the thought and determination that was behind what took place at that flat."
The trial, expected to last two weeks, is continuing.
Read more: http://www.southwales-eveningpost.co.uk/Woman-dismembered-beheaded-stranger-sex-night/story-28149318-detail/story.html#ixzz3rJWW5h99
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