A husband who killed his wife and never revealed where her body is will be freed from prison after being granted parole.
Glyn Razzell was sentenced to a minimum of 16 years imprisonment for the death of mother-of-four Linda Razzell in 2002.
Linda disappeared on her way to work at Swindon College, Wiltshire, and no trace of her body has ever been found.
Razzell, from Somerset, was found guilty of his estranged wife’s murder in 2003 after a lengthy trial.
In January, he was granted parole at a hearing as a panel ruled he no longer posed a risk to the public.
Razzell has been previously refused parole three times – including in 2021 as the first prisoner to be denied parole under Helen’s Law.
Under Helen’s Law, it is harder for killers to get parole if they refuse to reveal where their victim’s bodies are.
Prior to her death, Razzell and Linda were in the process of divorcing and once proceedings were finalised, Linda was engaged to marry another man, Greg Worrall.
Mr Worrall has maintained Linda’s family believe Razzell should never be granted parole until he showed remorse for her death or give information on what happened to her body.
Mr Worrall has said previously Razzell has ‘never shown any remorse’ for his actions, pointing out this is a criteria for parole.
He said: ‘If he wants to show remorse he’s got to stop saying he didn’t do it, turn up a body and allow her children a funeral.
‘Jail has got to be a deterrent.’
In a statement, the Parole Board confirmed a panel has directed the release of Razzell following an oral hearing.
It said its decisions are ‘solely focused’ on the risk a prisoner might pose to the public if freed, and whether that risk is ‘manageable.’
Responding to the ruling, Linda’s family told the BBC the parole board had ‘ripped up’ Helen’s Law – which places a legal duty on the Parole Board to account for the distress caused by killers who do not disclose where their victim is buried.
Helen’s Law was enacted after a fight by Marie McCourt, whose daughter Helen was murdered in 1988. Her killer was freed without revealing her whereabouts.
However, the parole board did note the ‘continuing cruelty’ of Razzell’s refusal to reveal where Linda’s remains are, but ultimately concluded he no longer places a risk to the public.
The Ministry of Justice has now confirmed it was seeking ways to contest the decision.
A spokesperson said: ‘Officials acting on behalf of the Secretary of State for Justice are examining if there are grounds to challenge the Parole Board’s decision through the reconsideration mechanism.’
Linda was last seen in March 2022 at Old Walcot, an area of Swindon, parking her car after dropping her children to school in Highworth and Mr Worrall at work.
At the time of her disappearance, a search of a car driven by Razzell revealed a significant amount of blood in the boot, which matched his estranged wife’s.
Detectives spoke to 2,600 people over the course of their 18-month investigation, and followed up over 2,200 lines of enquiry and took 1,540 statements.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court took six hours to find Razzell guilty of murder in November 2003.
Following the trial, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Granger, who led the team from Wiltshire Police that brought Razzell to justice, said: ‘I don’t think Razzell will tell us where the body is and if he does, it will not be for a long time.
‘He is an evil, cold, calculated and intelligent man, but he made mistakes and that is how he ended up getting caught.’
Razzell has repeatedly appealed his conviction.
He appeared on a BBC miscarriage of justice programme, Convicted, in 2018 in an effort to prove his innocence.
The programme backfired when it did not turn up sufficient leads – then parole chiefs said it could have upset Linda’s grief-stricken family.
He refused to take a lie detector test when asked to by the programme makers.
