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A husband murdered his wife as their three children played nearby then hid her body in the boot of his car while the kids sat in the back, a court has heard.

Christopher Kerrell, 35, “bludgeoned” his estranged spouse Hollie in a hammer and strangulation attack in the kitchen of her family home in Powys, Wales.

After knocking her down, he "began to choke the life" from her body, later telling police it took 10 minutes to throttle her, prosecutors said.

He then drank a cup of tea and cleaned up her blood.

Wrapping Hollie's body up in plastic bags, bedsheets and old clothes, Kerrell put her in a foetal position so he could transport her in his car.

He then took her to a shallow grave at a countryside spot, while their kids - aged between three and six - were sat in the back of the vehicle.

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE) (Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

A court heard how he drove his wife's body in the boot of his Vaxuhall Astra, and dug a grave on remote land owned by his family.

After dumping the body, 'calculated' machine operator Kerrell then pretended to help in the missing search for Hollie, the court heard.

He tried to cover his tracks by joining the missing persons appeal for the 28-year-old, saying she had left the family home.

Prosecutor Peter Lewis QC said: “Kerrell brutally murdered his estranged wife Hollie in the kitchen of her own home. He did so while his three young children were nearby and under her care.

“He killed her in a savage attack, he hit her in the head with a hammer which he had brought into the house and then strangling her.

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

“He bludgeoned her to the right side of her head and then, having knocked her down, he sat astride her and began to choke the life from her body.

“He was later to tell police it took 10 minutes to throttle her."

The prosecutor continued: “When he was sure she was dead he drank a cup of tea before cleaning up her blood.

“He made a determined effort to cover up what he had done and wrapped her body in plastic bags and old clothes and trussed her up.

“He bound her in a foetal position to make her smaller and easier to dispose of.

“He dumped her in the boot of his Astra car.

“He buried her in a shallow grave on remote farmland belonging to his family."

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

The prosecutor continued: “He started about laying a false trail within minutes of her murder.

"He began to contact friends and family saying he was concerned for Hollie and he was trying to find her.

“He said she had left him and taken her clothes with her.

“He continued life as normal: visiting shops and supermarkets, talking to friends and family on the telephone and taking the children on the school run on the day after he had murdered their mother.

“The young children must have been asking where their mother was and he must have been spinning his own children the very same lie - that she had left them.

“Having cleaned the kitchen of his wife’s blood he then prepared and gave the children their lunch.

“He then drove some six miles in the car to his mother’s car, with the children in the back and Hollie’s body in the boot.

“At the farm he left the children with his mother, he further wrapped her body in plastic sheets and placed her body in the grab of a tractor digger.

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

“He drove to a remote and secluded part of the farm and quickly buried her in a shallow grave.

“He picked the spot with care - it was some way from the farm and was not visible from the road."

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard Kerrell had become “jealous and possessive” as Hollie had started a new relationship.

The court heard Christopher and Hollie Kerrell 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.

The couple had been married five years but Hollie told friends she felt "trapped" and that her husband was jealous, possessive and controlling.

Mr Lewis said: "Their friends described the relationships volatile, Hollie told her mother and friends that he her husband was violent towards her and had affairs during their marriage.

"He threatened to kill himself in front of the children if she ever left him."

Hollie sent a text message to a friend saying: "He blackmails me with the kids, I just want out, a new house and a fresh start."

As she plotted to leave him Hollie told a friend by text: "I'm scared. I don't want to hurt anyone. I know I have to at some point and I have no idea how he will react."

(Image: WALES NEWS SERVICE)

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.

A huge police search was launched for the mum-of-three when she disappeared in April 22 this year.

Her body was discovered four days later at a countryside spot six miles away from her family home in Knighton.

Specialist police teams found her body in farmland in Whitton.

Hollie and Kerrell had been married for five years and had three children together.

But the court heard Hollie and her husband had separated in the weeks leading up to her disappearance and she had began seeing someone else.

Kerrell had moved out of the family home and was living with his mother and aunt nearby.

But when Hollie was reported Kerrell appealed on Facebook for people to join the search and phoned family members to say she had vanished.

Mr Lewis added: “He was cynical and calculating.

“Six months on from the murder he has given no explanation for it, the only explanation can be his jealousy and possessiveness.”

In a victim statement, Hollie’s mum Claire Heaney told Kerrell: "Because of you I had to tell my grandchildren their mummy was dead and daddy was in prison because he hurt mummy so bad she had died.

“You took my soulmate from me and carved out my heart. You changed the axis on what my world turned. I will never get over this.”

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.

Gordon Cole QC, defending, said Kerrell was suffering a depressive disorder at the time of the murder.

“He expresses contrition and remorse,” he added.

Kerrell will be sentenced later today.