A husband who stabbed his wife to death and then buried her chopped-up corpse in the garden has been seized by police.

Bricklayer Jose Carlos Martins Esperidiao is accused of slashing his wife’s neck with a knife.

He then, report local media, cut up her corpse and buried her in the garden of the family home.

But he insisted she had left the couple’s home in Nova Iguacu, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, for work one morning and never returned.

His story collapsed, however, when his in-laws realised he still had his wife’s mobile phone and police found her mutilated remains on 12th July.

Victim Claudia Goncalves de Moura, 51, had been missing since 4th July, following a blazing row with Martins Esperidiao.

Claudia – a carer for pensioners – had failed to show up for work and her mobile phone was switched off.

Martins Esperidiao was arrested and taken to the police station, where he confessed to the killing.

He claimed he had argued with his wife after discovering she had cheated on him.

He also claimed she had threatened him with a knife before the two began scuffling for the blade.

Martins Esperidiao said the struggle ended with his wife’s death and, in a moment of despair, he chopped up her body to bury it.

He told officers he had cut her into pieces because their garden was too small to contain an entire body in one piece.

Analysis of the victim’s phone revealed she had long been a victim of her husband’s aggression.

One audio message apparently showed how he once banged her head against a wall, leaving her head throbbing for days.

Martins Esperidiao was remanded in custody and faces charges of aggravated murder and concealing a corpse.