The decomposing body of a geologist reported missing by his family was found stuffed inside a canvas holdall and buried under grass cuttings after he was allegedly murdered by his estranged wife.

Jurors at Canterbury Crown Court have heard that Maureen Rickards fatally stabbed Jeremy Rickards repeatedly in the chest and through the heart, before storing his body - dressed in his underwear - in a cupboard in her bedroom.

It is alleged the 50-year-old then wrapped him in bin bags, transferred him into the bag and moved him from her loft conversion, down two flights of stairs, and to the hiding place at the bottom of the overgrown rear garden.

The discovery of the 65-year-old's remains at the terraced property in St Martin's Road - a stone’s throw from the court building - was made on July 11 last year after a police officer investigating his disappearance and experienced in homicide enquiries recognised a distinctive "sickly smell" emanating from foliage.

A fortnight earlier, two handymen working in the area who were asked by Rickards to cut the long grass so she could hold a family barbecue had commented on the odour, remarking that it must be "a dead animal or something".

In the time between the last sighting of her husband on June 7 and his body being found, it is alleged that she not only made efforts to clean up blood stains on the carpet in her bedroom and in the cupboard, but also sent WhatsApp messages to their daughter, Chima Rickards, purporting to be from her dad claiming he was in Saudi Arabia.

It is also alleged she later told the worried Ms Rickards that her father had in fact taken his own life, giving the date of his death as June 9 which, prosecutor Nick Corsellis KC said as he opened the case against the accused, "may well be, in fact, true".

It was these messages, and in particular their style of writing, as well as her mother's behaviour, which triggered the daughter's suspicions and prompted her to alert police.

Despite the decomposing state of his body, it was ascertained Mr Rickards had suffered five stab wounds, two of which were 11cm deep and had penetrated his heart, as well as multiple fractured ribs, a fracture to a bone in the neck and a broken nose.

There was also evidence of "old" injuries from which he had been recovering, including other fractures to his ribs and one from previously being strangled.

There was another "sharp force" stab wound to his head in which metal fragments were present.

The court heard that in the days leading up to his alleged killing, Mr Rickards had been in a "battered and bruised" state, as seen by fellow occupants at the address, as well as a taxi driver and staff at the nearby Thomas Ingoldsby pub where he was a regular drinker.

Mr Corsellis said evidence showed Rickards had been subjecting her husband to domestic abuse in the lead-up to his murder which became "more severe" in his final days.

His physical state was described as "frail and vulnerable" and, following his wife's arrest, police found several recordings on her phone in which she was aggressively berating him as he lay dishevelled and confused on the floor.

In one she could also be heard "voicing her intent to harm and kill", the court was told.

One tenant at the privately owned, three-storey, multi-occupancy property later told police how, in the early hours of either June 8 or June 9, he had heard the "repeated thudding noise" of "something heavy" being hauled down the stairs from Rickards's room before seeing her in the garden looking up at the sky.

Detailing the pathology evidence of Mr Rickards's numerous injuries - both old and recent - Mr Corsellis said: "The Crown suggest that the number and the extent found (by the pathologist) rule out any realistic suggestion that Jeremy Rickards had suffered a tragic accident or indeed that these wounds were self-inflicted.

"There is evidence of previous injuries consistent with Mr Rickards having been a victim of unlawful attack in the past.

"The Crown's case is that Mr Rickards had been the subject of severe domestic abuse at the hands of the defendant in the lead-up to this murder."

The court heard that in May last year Mr Rickards, who would travel abroad with his job, had been staying with his wife before briefly moving into an Airbnb in the city.

He returned to the St Martin's Road house in early June, with the last sighting on June 7. The final time anyone heard from him was the following day when he called EE customer services to top up his phone.

By that time, all the tenants had been given notice to leave as the house was due to be refurbished. Rickards was herself also preparing to move out.

One fellow occupant saw Mr Rickards arriving at the house on June 6, visibly and "profoundly" injured with a cut to his forehead and bruises to his eyes and ears.

Asked what had happened to his face, he did not explain other than to reply: "Maureen was in a bad mood with me and with everyone."

He was said to be so frail that a taxi driver who had driven him to the address later told police he neither had the strength to carry his bags nor even knock on the front door.

Four days earlier, he had phoned his brother in Middlesbrough and, in what the prosecution described as an unexpected call, he asked if he could stay with him for a few weeks as he was "having problems with Maureen again".

However, his sibling never heard from him again.

It was on June 3 that Mr Rickards moved into the holiday let in Canterbury, arriving late at night, badly bruised and frail, only to leave three days later and return to his wife’s house over lack of payment to extend his stay.

Jurors heard it was known "for sure" that he was still at the property on June 7 as he was again filmed by Rickards in footage lasting 20 minutes.

"Maureen Rickards can be heard to be aggressive, striking Jeremy Rickards who responds in pain, and she can be heard voicing her intention to harm him and kill him," said Mr Corsellis.

The court heard it was on June 27 that Chima Rickards received a WhatsApp "supposedly" from her father who, the prosecution said, had now been dead "for some time".

The message, almost identical to one purportedly sent to his wife's mobile, said he had arrived in Saudi Arabia.

She was using WhatsApp to send messages to her husband and also messaging herself and her daughter from her husband's mobile...

That same day Rickards sent one to her husband's phone saying "27 years we were blessed, bye my angel, have a great life because I most definitely will".

However, by the next day she had sent another to her daughter, saying Mr Rickards had taken his own life and giving the date of his death as June 9.

"She was using WhatsApp to send messages to her husband and also messaging herself and her daughter from her husband's mobile," explained Mr Corsellis.

"It was those messages that led to Chima Rickards reporting her father as missing. She became concerned by the style of the messages she was receiving supposedly from her father.

"She messaged him back asking whether her mother had taken over his telephone again."

Mr Rickards's phone was later discovered in a bag tied up in curtains in his wife's room.

Police investigating his disappearance also unearthed a social media post dated July 1 - and later linked to the defendant - saying "RIP James Jeremy RICKARDS is dead!!! Rest in Peace my Love".

Officers had gone to the property on July 7 but found "no trace of existence" of the missing geologist.

Rickards told them that although they were separated he would occasionally stay with her, but that she had not spoken to him "for weeks" and that he had possibly taken a job in Saudi Arabia or gone to see his brother.

She was initially arrested on suspicion of fraud after it was discovered she had been using his bank card in various shops in Canterbury between June 20 and June 30.

Her purchases included alcohol, cigarettes, Doritos, toilet paper, Febreze air freshener and Vanish carpet shampoo.

But once the grim discovery had been made in the garden, she was re-arrested on suspicion of murder to which she replied: "Murder? Murder? Did you say murder? Found what body?"

One officer who handcuffed her had noted she was "strong for her size", the jury heard.

An expert in entomology - the forensic study of insects, their life cycle and their participation in decomposition - later concluded that Mr Rickards’ body would have been moved from inside the house and into the garden between July 3 and 6, at the latest.

The court also heard that DNA matching Mr Rickards was discovered in the carpet bloodstains, as well as evidence of cleaning products having been used to remove the bodily fluid.

His wife's DNA was also found in one of the analysed carpet samples, as well as on the bin bag in which her husband's remains were discovered.

Rickards, of St Martin's Road, denies murder between June 7 and July 11 last year.

However, in explaining the burden of proof was on the prosecution, Mr Corsellis told the jury: "Our case is that from the evidence we will put before you there is one candidate for Mr Rickards' death and it will demonstrate it was the defendant."

The trial, presided over by Mr Justice Kerr, is expected to last up to three weeks.