LIKE ‘HORROR MOVIE’
PHILIP DEWEY looks back on the gruesome dismemberment murder that horrified a nation
THE first thing that struck them was the foul smell. One of the two police officers sent to question Christopher May at his flat on the outskirts of Pontypridd described it as “gone-off meat or food”.
But when they pulled back the shower curtain, everything changed. Lying in the shower were two dismembered arms and two legs.
Three days earlier, Tracey Woodford had said goodbye to her mother and brother before heading into Pontypridd town centre. Little did Tracey’s family know it would be the last time they would see her alive.
Christopher Nigel May – described as “a nice bloke” by his mates – was drinking in the Skinny Dog.
When Tracey walked through the pub door on the evening of Tuesday, April 21, 2015, she caught May’s attention. After an evening of banter and conversation, Tracey agreed to go back to 50-year-old May’s flat on the outskirts of town.
But what took place that night in Andrews Court is among the most disturbing, brutal murders Wales has ever known. It left the town stunned.
Tracey, who was 47, had left home to pick up a ring at a Cash Generator shop. She then visited the Tumble Inn pub and Alfred’s bar. She was described as being intoxicated.
It was around 7.45pm when Tracey went to the Skinny Dog. She was refused service, but was given a Diet Coke. It was then that a seemingly friendly group of three men invited her to join them. One of these men was Christopher May.
People in the pub that night described Tracey and May as flirting with each other.
The group of four left the Skinny Dog at around 11.20pm and one of May’s friends saw Tracey and May heading towards Pontypridd railway station and May’s flat.
Three hours later, at around 2.20am, neighbours Michael and Gail Elley, who lived below May, said they heard a loud thud but thought May had fallen over while drunk.
Two days later May arrived at work at the Grill Steakhouse, where he was employed as a pot washer, with scratches on his face.
Meanwhile, Tracey’s family were worried and wondering where she was. When a day had gone by with no word from her and calls to her mobile left unanswered, the police were called.
Inquiries were made at pubs in Pontypridd and officers learned that the last sighting of Tracey had been heading towards May’s flat in Graig.
On Friday, April 24, sergeant Stuart Williams and constable Craig Gardiner knocked on the door of May’s flat. After initially refusing to allow the officers in and asking if they could come back another day he relented.
May was cagey and appeared to be in the process of cleaning. He told the officers he and Tracey had left the pub together and he thought he had “got lucky” but she had told him to “p*** off” after he “tried to cop a feel” and had walked off.
The officers asked May if they could look round his flat, which he allowed. Sgt Williams and PC Gardiner were about to make the discovery that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Sgt Williams said: “I told Mr May he was under arrest on suspicion of murder. He said ‘I know’.”
When asked by one of the officers where the rest of the body was, May casually replied “some of her is in the cupboard and in the drain at Pontypridd RFC”.