Nicholas Boyce
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- Gender
- male
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Location
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Date of birth
- 1948
- Age at first offence
- 37
- Characteristics
- parricide, dismemberment
- Victim profile
- His wife, Christabel Boyce, 32
- Method of murder
- Strangulation
- Date(s) of murder
- January 13, 1985
- Years active
- 1985
- Date of arrest
- 5 days after (surrenders)
- Status
-
Imprisoned
Sentenced to 6 years in prison on October 9, 1985
Case record: Nicholas Boyce
Background
Nicholas Boyce was an economist.
In 1985, Joan Smith, in her book Misogynies, described the case involving Boyce and his wife, Christobel. Smith wrote that Boyce “killed her, filleted the flesh from her bones, and cooked it so that it would look like someone's Sunday lunch”; Smith also wrote that Boyce distributed parcels of cooked meat around London.
The case was linked to the 1974 disappearance of Lord Lucan.
Christabel was a former governess to the children of Lord Lucan.
Lord Lucan vanished without a trace after another nanny was battered to death at his home in London’s Belgravia district, and police had sought to track down the missing peer.
The offence
Nicholas Boyce killed his wife, Christabel.
He dismembered Christabel, including filleting the flesh from her bones.
After killing and dismembering her, Boyce cooked the flesh so that it would look like someone’s Sunday lunch.
He then distributed the parcels of cooked meat around London.
Investigation
The case was connected to the 1974 disappearance of Lord Lucan.
Arrest
No arrest details were provided.
Trial
A jury at London’s Old Bailey court cleared Boyce, 37, of murdering his wife, Christabel.
The jury convicted Boyce of manslaughter.
The jury’s finding occurred in a furious domestic row over Boyce’s sexual prowess.
Sentencing
Boyce was sentenced him to six years in jail on October 9, 1985.
The sentencing judge was Sir James Miskin.
The judge said:
"Before these dreadful events, you were hard-working, of good character ... you were simply unable to get on with your wife."
The judge’s words included the view that:
"a man of reasonable self-control might have been similarly provoked"
The sentencing reflected aggravated nature of Boyce’s concealment and disposal of the body, but he still received six years.
Outcome
The jury cleared Boyce of murdering his wife, Christabel.
Boyce received a six-year prison sentence.
Other details
Joan Smith’s description included the quoted statement: “killed her, filleted the flesh from her bones, and cooked it so that it would look like someone's Sunday lunch”.
Nicholas Boyce was 37 at the time of the trial.
Christabel was 32.
The case involved London and London’s Old Bailey court.
The sentencing took place after the 1985 trial and on October 9, 1985.
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