A man has been convicted of murdering and dismembering a woman who went missing on a night out.
Azam Mangori, 24, killed Lorraine Cox, 32, in his room above an Exeter kebab shop in September last year.
She could have been suffocated as the T-shirt she had been wearing was found in her mouth.
The Iraqi national cut her body into seven pieces over the course of a week and disposed of her clothing and possessions in bins and woodland.
After murdering Miss Cox, Mangori used her SIM card in his mobile phone to pretend she was alive and well to family and friends.
They eventually reported her missing to the police.
Following a four-week trial at Exeter Crown Court, Mangori, of no fixed address, was convicted of murder by a jury after six hours of deliberations.
He had previously admitted a separate charge of preventing Miss Cox’s lawful burial but denied murdering her, claiming she had died after drinking and taking drugs.
The prosecution said Mangori had spotted his victim eating a kebab on a bench while she was drunk on a night out and “homed in”.
She had been drinking with friends on the quay and at The Arcade pub before beginning her journey home on foot.
Mangori claimed the two had consensual sex in an alleyway. He made an audio recording of the incident in which he could be heard offering her ‘free money, free alcohol and free drugs’ if she returned to his flat
He then led Miss Cox to the room above the Bodrum Kebab House, where he had been living since arriving in Exeter, where she was killed and dismembered.
Lorraine Cox’s family said after the verdict: “We hope and pray that no other woman or family has to go through what our beautiful girl suffered, or that any other family suffers the brutal, distressing experience we have all been through.”
They said she was ‘most kind hearted, loving generous girl – the heartbeat of our family.”
Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Jim Colwell said: “The murder of Lorraine Cox was callous and brutal in its nature and details of the crime revealed at court will have disturbed many of our communities.
“The way in which Azam Mangori exploited Lorraine’s vulnerability before murdering her and dismembering her body is a deeply disturbing crime.
“Violence against anyone, especially a vulnerable woman like Lorraine, is abhorrent.
“Devon and Cornwall Police, along with many parts of our society, is currently reflecting on the highlighting of threats many women and girls feel on a daily basis.
“We need to understand and listen to those in our communities who say they do not feel safe and come together to change any culture of fear which may exist.”