Killer who hid wife's body refused prison release

Killer who hid wife's body refused prison releaseImage source, Family photoImage caption, Linda Razzell vanished on her way to work in Swindon in 2002ByChloe HarcombeWest of EnglandA man who killed his wife and refuses to reveal where her body is cannot be freed from prison, after the High Court overturned the Parole Board's decision to release him.Glyn Razzell, 66, was jailed for life in 2003 after being convicted of murdering his estranged wife Linda, who disappeared in Swindon the year before. He has never disclosed what he did with her body.The Parole Board decided in April that Razzell could be released as his imprisonment was "no longer necessary" to protect the public.It is the first time the Secretary of State for Justice's power to refer the decision to the High Court has been used to overturn a Parole Board ruling.Announcing her decision earlier, judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: "I am not persuaded that the risk has diminished to such a level that offender management is capable of keeping the public safe if the defendant is released."Image source, PAImage caption, Glyn Razzell was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2003 for the murder of his wifeMore from WiltshireWhen his application was refused in 2021, he became the first prisoner to be denied parole under Helen's Law.The law requires the Parole Board to take a killer's refusal to disclose where their victim's body is into consideration.Linda, who was 41 when she vanished, was last seen parking her car in Alvescot Road while on her way to work at Swindon College in March 2002.Razzell, a former insurance investment manager from Crewkerne in Somerset, made appeals in the news for her return but was later arrested and charged with her murder.Linda, originally from Llanybydder in Wales, had been in the midst of divorce proceedings and had visited a bank with a court order to freeze her husband's bank accounts the week before she vanished.Detectives found traces of blood in the boot of a car Razzell had used.Image source, Wiltshire PoliceImage caption, Linda had been in the process of divorcing Glyn before her murderWhen the Parole Board approved Razzell's release on licence in April, it said in a statement the "panel was satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public".The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) referred the decision to the High Court - a move the agency can do if it believes a prisoner's release would undermine public confidence in the parole system.During a two-day hearing at the High Court earlier this week, barristers for the MoJ said the Parole Board had failed to assess Razzell's risk properly and called for the decision to be reversed.Linda's relatives also urged the court to block his release. Image source, Family photoImage caption, Linda's family realised she was missing when she failed to collect two of her four children from after-school clubHer cousin, Julie Westmore, said she would not "feel safe" and expressed fear that "all hope of ever finding [her] remains will be lost" if Razzell was released.Greg Worrall, Linda's partner at the time of her death, said in a statement that Razzell "knows the pain this is causing [her] family and children"."We need an end to this ongoing agony," he added.Cat and her siblings said they had no wish for their father to die behind bars, but they wanted him to admit what he did.Image caption, Cat Razzell was just 13 when her mother was murdered by her father"We would like to be able to lay her to rest, to give her the dignity she deserves - and to finally be able to say 'this is over'."As long as he refuses to admit what he did to her, and by association what he's done to us, the impact of that crime continues."We don't believe that somebody who is willing to do that deserves release," Cat added.Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, external, X, external and Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.More on this storyRelated internet links