Scott Paterson: Butcher murdered his landlord Annette Smith, dismembered her body then sent card to her family

DISTRESSING CONTENT WARNING

A butcher who murdered and dismembered his landlady before hiding her remains in a storage unit calmly told police: “I thought if there wasn’t a body I could get away with it.”

Scott Paterson, 45, was heavily in debt and had been secretly selling 74-year-old Annette Smith’s jewellery when he smothered her and stuffed her body parts in a suitcase.

He then sent Moonpig cards, messages and gifts in her name to family and friends to try to cover up his crime.

Police initially ignored concerns raised by Ms Smith’s estranged husband and only became involved when he hired a private investigator who found personal belongings including her mobile phone at her house in Stotfold, Bedfordshire.

Jailing Paterson for life with a minimum 20-year-term, Mr Justice Murray said: “You told her friends and family an elaborate lie. Because of your lies, the police concluded there was not sufficient evidence at that time to say she was genuinely missing.”

Ms Smith’s stepson, Jason Smith, fought back tears while reading a victim impact statement in court.

He said: “It’s horrific to think he had absolutely no regard for Annette’s mortal remains and it’s something I try hard not to think about.”

Paterson met Ms Smith in around 2010 when he was working in a restaurant near her home.

She invited him to move into her spare room rent-free on a temporary basis in 2012 when he split up from his girlfriend but he ended up staying, helping her to host dinner parties and going to the theatre together.

He became her carer when she lost the use of her right arm after a mini-stroke in 2018.

But in November last year, Paterson entered Ms Smith’s bedroom and suffocated her with a pillow.

He drank a bottle of wine before dragging the body into the bathroom and wrapping it in a blanket. He later moved it to a cupboard under the stairs. Paterson, who was working at a deli and butcher counter at a farm shop, later dismembered Ms Smith with a kitchen knife and saw and took the remains in a suitcase to a storage unit in Letchworth.

Luton Crown Court heard that he told neighbours she had gone to live with a friend.

He sent cards from website Moonpig and used her email account to send messages to loved ones.

But suspicions were raised because some messages “didn’t ring true”.

The pensioner’s husband, Peter Smith, reported her missing on January 10 but “wasn’t satisfied with the police response” and hired a private investigator who found her passport, mobile phone and other items at her house.

Bedfordshire Police finally opened an investigation in April. When arrested, Paterson led police to the storage unit.

He said he had considered killing Ms Smith at least twice before and had only stopped himself when he reached her bedroom door.

The killer, who admitted murder, said in a chilling interview: “I just wanted to get out of the situation (of acting as her carer). In hindsight, there were better ways to have done that.”

“I sort of snapped, I suppose.”

Asked why he put her body parts in a suitcase which he took to a storage unit, the killer said: “Because I thought if there wasn’t a body, I could get away with it.”

It emerged he had £30,000 ($60,000) debts and had sold £5,000 ($10,000) worth of her jewellery before and after her death.

Mr Justice Murray told him: “There was significant premeditation. You had been contemplating killing Annette Smith before you had finally killed her.”

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