To all who knew her, Katherine Mary Knight was a hard worker who loved socialising at the local RSL.

Key points: Katherine Knight has spent 20 years in jail for the murder of John Price

Katherine Knight has spent 20 years in jail for the murder of John Price Knight was the first woman in Australia to be jailed without parole

Knight was the first woman in Australia to be jailed without parole Locals have been unable to forget the day the news broke

Warning: the following story contains graphic detail.

But late on the night February 29, 2000, Knight skinned and beheaded her partner John Price at his home in the New South Wales town of Aberdeen, north-west of Newcastle.

The post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Price had been stabbed at least 37 times in various parts of both the front and back of his body.

Knight, who was a highly skilled meatworker, subsequently became the first Australian woman to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.

At the time media in Australia and abroad dubbed her the female Hannibal Lecter.

Skin 'removed to form a pelt'

The Supreme Court sentencing judge, Barry O'Keefe, found that once he was dead, Mr Price's body was moved and defiled.

"After he had been dead for some time his body was dragged by the prisoner from the hallway into the lounge room, and thereafter the prisoner skinned Mr Price's body," Justice O'Keefe said.

"This was carried out with considerable expertise and an obviously steady hand, so that his skin — including that of the head, face, nose, ears, neck, torso, genital organs and legs — was removed so as to form one pelt.

The house where John Price was murdered still stands, but has undergone a makeover. ( ABC News )

"So expertly was it done that, after the post-mortem examination, the skin was able to be re-sown onto Mr Price's body in a way which indicated a clear and appropriate, albeit grisly, methodology.

"At some time after Mr Price had been skinned the prisoner hung his pelt on a meat hook on the architrave of the door of the lounge room, where it remained until it was later removed by investigating police."

Katherine Knight was known as a skilled meatworker. ( ABC News )

'A sickening stew'

Justice O'Keefe said Knight then prepared her murdered partner's body for dinner.

"Not only was Mr Price's head removed but parts of his buttocks were also sliced off," he said.

"The excised parts of Mr Price were then taken by the prisoner to the kitchen, and at some stage, after she had peeled and prepared various vegetables, she cooked Mr Price's head in a large pot, together with a number of the vegetables she had prepared, so as to produce a sickening stew."

She also baked parts of the body in the oven.

"Pieces cut from Mr Price's buttocks were baked in the oven together with other of the vegetables she had peeled, and the gruesome steaks were then arranged on plates she left as meals for the son and daughter of the deceased.

"The prisoner showed no mercy whatsoever to Mr Price — the last minutes of his life must have been a time of abject terror for him, as they were a time of utter enjoyment for her.

"She is without doubt a very dangerous person and likely, if released into the community, to commit further acts of serious violence, including even murder against those who cross her — particularly males.

"A crime of the kind committed by the prisoner calls for the maximum penalty the law empowers the court to impose."

'A very proficient meatworker'

The Aberdeen home where John Price was butchered is still standing, but has undergone a makeover.

Residents who were in the town at the time say they have never forgotten the crime, among them Rick Banyard, who lived up the road from the scene.

"Absolutely it was a dark day, it came out of the blue," Mr Banyard said.

"I think, basically, nobody sort of expected any significant drama at all, let alone the crime that became recorded as one of the worst pieces of history in Australia.

Rick Banyard knew Katherine Knight and John Price. ( Supplied )

"I knew both Katherine and John quite well, and regularly met with them at the RSL club on a Saturday night with other people who visited the club."

Mr Banyard said everyone knew Knight was good at her job.

"Katherine was a hard working meatworker, and a very proficient meatworker at that," Mr Banyard said.

"In some quirky sort of way I think there was a bit of admiration in what she did and how she did it.

"It it was clearly her skills as a meatworker that allowed her to do what she did, but what was in her brain at the time or whatever I don't know, and whatever provoked it I don't know.

"I don't know if their relationship was ever a perfect match, but it was nothing out of the norm, if you know what I mean — just a normal every day arrangement."

Never to be released

Mr Banyard said he still feels for the policeman who was first to arrive at the scene.

"The person I really for sorry for is the police officer, and his wife, who was also a police officer," he said.

"They lived in Aberdeen, they worked in Aberdeen and they were very good community people, and he would have known both the parties from normal everyday life.

"I mean, I just imagine the horrific shock that he got when he opened the door to find out what the disturbance was and what had gone on — to suddenly be confronted with a sight like.

"I think it must have been unbelievably stressful, and it just blew him away."

In 2016 it was announced that a film which would document the life of Knight, who is now in her 60s, had been picked up by a Hollywood production studio.

Knight's file is marked "never to be released".