Wife accused of killing husband with stone frog before mummifying body and hiding it in garden shed for 18 years

Leigh Ann Sabine has been identified as the main suspect in her husband John's death

Leigh Ann Sabine, who died in October (PA)

A man believed to have been murdered by his wife with a stone frog was mummified in more than 50 layers of sheeting and plastic bags for 18 years, an inquest has heard.

Accountant John Sabine - who was last seen in 1997 - died following a single blow to the head with an ornamental stone frog kept by the couple’s bed at their home in the village of Beddau, near Pontypridd, South Wales.

A post-mortem examination carried out by forensic pathologist Dr Richard Jones found that the “projecting eye and hind leg” features of the frog lined up the fractures on Mr Sabine’s skull.

He said: "A single blow from this item could have accounted for all the skull fractures. They are severe injuries and can easily account for death.

"The frog weighed 1.1kg and was 14 centimeters long. The shape of the frog matched the fractures."

Dr Jones said Mr Sabine’s body was still in his Marks and Spencer pyjamas and tied up with green string.

Tests showed he had drunk alcohol before his death but was below the drink driving limit and he was eventually identified by the hip replacement surgery he had had in the 1990s, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Dr Jones said: "It was relatively well-preserved because of a process known as 'chemical mummification', which occurs in certain circumstances. It can persist for years or even centuries."

The body was found shortly after his wife Leigh Ann Sabine’s death from cancer in October 2015, aged 74.

Police believe Mr Sabine was assaulted before his death (PA)

Shortly before her death, she had asked a neighbour to move the “medical skeleton” she claimed to have bought when she was training to be a nurse from the garden shed of their communal garden to her attic.

She had tended the garden by herself for many years and the body is believed to have been in the shed the entire time.

Neighbours said she had joked “for years” about whether the skeleton was real or not.

The discovery was made when neighbours, while clearing out her belongings, began to cut away at the wrapping until they realised it contained human remains.

Police Community Support Officer, Gareth Bishop, said he had been called to the house after the discovery of the body and said he smelt a “strong rotting smell, like from a compost bin”.

South Wales Police said Ms Sabine was the main suspect in the death of her husband.

PC Joy Nicholls said Ms Sabine was “likeable, but not someone I’d trust” and she had come across as “clearly a very strong character” in their conversations over the year.

PC Nicholls said she had described her husband as “a b******” and said she was estranged from her family, but did not like to talk about it.

The couple emigrated to New Zealand in the 1960s but returned in the 1980s leaving their five children behind.

Mary West, a street pastor who was the executor of Ms Sabine’s will, gave a written statement saying she had “spun a myth about her life”.

Ms West said: "She had stories of winning a modelling contract in Australia, a glamorous singing career and tales of her husband's affairs”.

Ms Sabine’s friend Lynne Williams said she had told her that her husband had been abusive and was a womaniser.

In the weeks before her death, Ms Sabine had a conversation with her hairdresser Bernadette Adamiec when she said she was probably going to be “famous” after she died.

When Ms Adamiec asked why she had said: “Because of the body in the bag”.

The inquest recorded a verdict of unlawful death.