Life sentence for man who killed and buried woman

A man has been jailed for life for the murder of a woman whose body was found buried in a Fenland village months after she was last seen.

Julie Buckley, 55, was found in 10 pieces in a shallow grave in Wimblington, Cambridgeshire, last September.

Karl Hutchings, 48, who was sentenced at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday, was told he would serve a minimum of 21 years behind bars.

Buckley was last seen alive on CCTV at a supermarket in the nearby town of March on 28 January 2025, and eight months later Hutchings admitted murdering her. Judge Mark Bishop told him: "Having taken her life, you deprived her of any dignity in death."

The trial heard that Buckley had been staying with Hutchings at his home in The Hill, Christchurch, and that concerns had been raised about her welfare after she failed to attend appointments.

The prosecution said it appeared she was murdered sometime on 29 or 30 January.

Hutchings, who had initially denied the murder before changing his plea, told a teacher at HMP Peterborough he had killed Buckley "because she had been stealing from him and had tried to convince him he was mad".

A court heard he gave police a map showing where he had buried her remains.

After the case, Det Ch Insp Rich Stott, who led the investigation, said: "A murder investigation without a body is extremely challenging, but the team worked tirelessly to gather significant and compelling evidence, putting pressure on Hutchings to finally reveal the truth.

"The cold-blooded brutality of Julie's death and subsequent disposal of her body is something that will stay with me and all my team for a very long time.

"Julie was a well-known member of her community – she was a mother, a friend and a neighbour and will be greatly missed. Nobody should meet their end in this way."

A post-mortem examination indicated there were 11 blows to Buckley's skull.

Allison Summers, in mitigation for Hutchings, previously said he had a "long history of mental health problems and significant drug addiction".

She said Hutchings had been released from a psychiatric unit less than three months before the murder.

She said he had pleaded guilty after he was advised that a psychiatric report did not support a medical defence of diminished responsibility.

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