Mark Donovan, 39, has been imprisoned for life after inflicting 70 separate injuries on 37-year-old Elise Mason in an attack in Great Baddow in April 2023.
The 39-year-old was arrested after entering Ilford police station eating a Chinese takeaway before telling police officers he had done “the worst thing”.
The worrying comments prompted the Met to contact Essex Police and request they pay a visit to his home address in Rothmans Avenue.
At the scene, Essex Police discovered Elise unresponsive and suffering from extensive injuries.
A post-mortem revealed that they were consistent with blows to the head and strangulation, whilst bruises to her hands and forearms had been attempts to defend herself.
In the hours after committing the murder Donovan made his way around Essex and east London, stopping at a pub and a massage parlour before handing himself in at the Ilford station the following day.
Detectives discovered that he had taken Elise’s phone from the scene of the attack and had hidden it in the cistern of a toilet in the pub he had visited.
He was charged with murder, which he denied, and stood on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
On February 28, he was convicted by a jury after just three hours of deliberation.
He was sentenced on March 5 to a minimum of 16 years imprisonment.
Det Insp James Holmes said: “I want to express my heartfelt sympathy to Elise’s family and in particular her two children, who have tragically been left without their mother because of Donovan’s destructive and utterly heartless actions.
“I hope that the jury’s verdict will bring some closure for them, and they can move on with their lives to some degree.
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“Mark Donovan is clearly a dangerous, selfish and manipulative man.
“He killed her in a fit of rage, only handing himself in after enjoying a drink at a pub, a massage and a takeaway meal.
“That behaviour shows the kind of man he is. He can expect to spend the rest of his life where he belongs.”
