'Perfect murder': Husband of Leigh Anne Sabine died of head severe injuries

Leigh Sabine is suspected of murdering her husband and hiding his body in her garden. Photos / Supplied

A husband whose body is believed to have been hidden by his wife for 18 years died from severe head injuries, an inquest has heard.

John Henry Sabine was last seen alive in 1997, aged 67. His body was discovered in plastic sheeting in his wife Leigh Anne's garden at their home in Beddau, near Pontypridd, South Wales, just weeks after she died of brain cancer.

Police have identified Mrs Sabine, who grew up in New Zealand, as the "main suspect".

A post mortem examination by pathologist Richard Jones revealed that Mr Sabine died from blunt force trauma to the head.

However, the date of his death was still "unknown".

Coroner Andrew Barkley adjourned the inquest at Aberdare, South Wales, before a pre-inquest review in March.

Former cabaret singer Leigh Ann Sabine had husband John's state benefits paid into their joint account after he vanished in 1997, which police are investigating as part of the murder probe.

Detective Chief Inspector Gareth Morgan said: "This is an extraordinary set of circumstances and we are working tirelessly to put together the pieces of what is a complex investigation."

Mrs Sabine also carried on putting his name on the electoral register, despite telling neighbours he'd left her.

Neighbours were stunned when her husband's remains were found above ground in the garden weeks after she died.

Police are trying to work out if the body was moved in the months before it was discovered.

One theory is that she tried to move the body when she knew she was dying of brain cancer.

Mrs Sabine told neighbours she grew up in New Zealand and hid her past.

After her death her son branded her "evil" as it emerged she had abandoned her five young children in a government orphanage in New Zealand in to pursue her career as a nightclub singer.

Her son Steve said she abandoned him at the age of 6 or 7 before returning 17 years later in 1985.

But shortly after that reunion his parents again left him, his brother Martin and three sisters, Jane, Susan and Lee-Ann. The family learned of their parents' fate this week when police contacted them in New Zealand.

Steve said he was "overwhelmed" to discover detectives now suspect his mother of having killed his father 18 years ago and having kept it secret until after her death from cancer.

The 53-year-old who lives in Taranaki, said: "If anyone was going to do it, she was going to do it."

- Daily Mail