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A man who admitted murdering a kitchen salesman, dismembering his body and dumping it, has been jailed for life. Stephen Marshall, 38, of Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, must serve at least 36 years for killing Jeffrey Howe, 49. St Albans Crown Court heard Marshall killed Mr Howe in London last March and scattered his body parts across Hertfordshire and Leicestershire. Marshall's girlfriend Sarah Bush was jailed for three years and nine months for perverting the course of justice. Marshall, who had originally denied murder, changed his plea at the end of the third week of his trial. Bush, 21, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice for her role in the disposal of some of Mr Howe's body parts and the subsequent cover up. The charge of murder against her was withdrawn. The court heard the flesh on Mr Howe's scalp and face was removed and his ears and tongue cut away. His hands have never been found. He was murdered on 8 or 9 March in his flat in Southgate, north London, the jury was told. The court heard Marshall had moved into Mr Howe's flat after the pair met through the murdered man's work as a kitchen salesman. Marshall refused to leave the flat and planned to take over Mr Howe's identity after murdering him, jurors were told. Prosecutor Stuart Trimmer QC said Marshall and Ms Bush paid no rent to Mr Howe and stole his food. After his death, the couple began to use his bank account, Mr Trimmer said. One witness told the court that Marshall had previously boasted of his ability to butcher a human corpse. She said he told her he had cut up bodies for a criminal family in London, disposing of them in plastic bags which he buried. Mr Justice Cooke told Marshall: "(Mr Howe) looked up to you and was scared of you and the evidence is you exploited that. "You took advantage of Mr Howe in life and then after his death you used his money." Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Denis Burke said it had been "an extremely gruesome case".