Lorraine Cox murder: Man jailed for life for killing and dismembering woman in Exeter

‘Your cowardice in failing to report her death only served to compound the loss and hurt,’ judge tells Azam Mangori

Lorraine Cox, 32, was killed by Azam Mangori in Exeter in September 2020. (PA)

A 24-year-old man has been jailed for life for murdering and dismembering Lorraine Cox in Exeter last year.

Azam Mangori received a minimum of 20 years in prison for killing the 32-year-old woman in his flat above an Exeter kebab shop in September.

Ms Cox had gone missing on 1 September while walking home after a night out with friends in the city. Taking advantage of her drunken state, Mangori targeted her and brought her back to his flat.

Last week a jury found Mangori, an Iraqi national, guilty of murder as well as one charge of preventing lawful burial at the end of a four-week trial at Exeter Crown Court.

At his sentencing on Wednesday the judge said exactly what happened in the flat would never be known, as a pathologist was unable to give a precise cause of Ms Cox’s death because of the time taken to find her remains.

Addressing Mangori, Mr Justice Garnham added: “You ended the life of a bright, vivacious and intelligent young woman who had her whole life ahead of her.

“Your cowardice in failing to report her death only served to compound the loss and hurt.”

Read more:

• Lorraine Cox murder: Man found guilty of killing and dismembering woman in Exeter
• Lorraine Cox update: Four arrested as missing person investigation becomes murder inquiry

Elsie Farrow, Ms Cox’s partner, gave a victim’s impact statement in which she revealed that the pair had planned to have a baby.

Ms Farrow, 28, said she would never recover from her murder, emphasising that “the thought of her as a missing person for seven days only prolonged the agony”.

She added: “Every day I think about things that will never happen again. We will never be able to hold hands and go exploring in our local country park.

“We planned to have children together with Lorraine carrying our child.

“I will never see her smile or hear her infectious laugh.”

Mangori, a failed asylum seeker who was awaiting extradition at the time of the murder, disposed of Ms Cox’s body in woodland a few miles from his home and in bins at the property.

Additional reporting by SWNS