Chilling moment when killer wheels slaughtered the victim in the suitcase towards the canal before the creepy clue in the garden helped snare him

THIS is the chilling moment a killer drags his slaughtered victim into a suitcase to dump in a canal – before he is finally ensnared by a grim clue in the garden.

Michael Spalding, 39, was brutally murdered by Lorenzo Simon, who dismembered him with his own decorating tools.

Michael Spalding was brutally murdered and then dismemberedCredit: Discovery+

His killer was captured while his accomplice girlfriend dragged his butchered body in suitcases to the canalCredit: Discovery+

Simon was caught by a bone fragment found in an oil barrelCredit: Discovery+

He was given a life sentence, with a minimum of 19 yearsCredit: West Midlands Police

The deranged killer and his girlfriend Michelle Bird then wheeled two suitcases containing Michael’s severed remains Birmingham Channel.

Weighted with concrete, paving stones and slaughter tools, the bags were thrown into the murky water.

Simon, 34, thought he had gotten away with murder until the suitcases floated to the surface, bringing with them the horrific truth.

The gruesome crime has now been further investigated documentary The suitcase murders discovered+.

On May 12, 2014, a Canal & River Trust contractor found the first suitcase containing Michael’s severed body.

His head was missing, along with his left leg, and the bag was also filled with decorative items Michael used in his work.

The next day a second suitcase emerged, this time containing the missing one head – but part of his leg was still nowhere to be seen.

For Michael’s brother Richard, the pain of hearing how his brother died was compounded when he had to identify him at the morgue.

He said: “It’s something you look at in one movie. It was pretty awful actually. I could not believe it. It was so horrifying, the thought of it actually… I think you just go numb.

“I was a bit shocked. It did give me a bit of closure because you’re looking at something physical instead of a piece of paper, so it was something I felt I had to do.”

My daughter was beaten to death and then dumped in a suitcase by her husband… I’m haunted by the thought that she screamed for me

Officers soon discovered that Michael was living in Simon’s flat with his girlfriend Kirsty, along with his partner Bird.

Simon and Michael had known each other for a long time and the killer turned out to be a violent criminal with previous convictions.

Police were certain that they had found their prime suspect and that Michael had been murdered and then the address burgled.

They arrested Simon, who was caught swearing on police bodycam footage as he repeatedly lied to officers.

He told them, “I have nothing to hide…I have nothing to hide at all. I am not a murderer.”

Crucial clue

While in custody, police began searching the house in a desperate attempt to formally link Simon to the murder.

The search for clues paid off and they discovered small drops of blood on a wall in the lounge.

But the most crucial piece of evidence was found in a oil drum in the backyard that had been set on fire.

A charred part of a humerus was found among the bodies ashwhich police believed belonged to Michael’s missing leg.

Using 3D scanning technologyexperts were able to find a perfect fit between the fragment and the severed leg found in the second suitcase.

As if the find wasn’t enough smoking gun, then the chilling CCTV footage of Simon and Bird dragging the suitcases towards the canal emerged.

The evil couple were charged with murder and put on trial, revealing that Simon had effectively treated his renovator friend like “slave labor” in the months leading up to the murder.

“It didn’t affect him. I watched him in court every day and it was nothing. Like he was in trouble somewhere, but he actually hacked my brother

Richard Spalding

Michael had to work until after midnight, was given only one meal a day and was only allowed to go outside with Simon’s permission.

He had eventually snapped at the assault, prompting the enraged Simon to stab his friend to death with a bat and a knife.

Birmingham Crown Court It was also said that a number of weapons were used to dismember Michael’s body, including knives, a saw and possibly a heavy-bladed weapon such as an axe.

Richard said: “To find out that Lorenzo Simon had killed my brother and not only killed him, cut him up and put him in two suitcases and went to the trouble of dragging him to the canal and throwing him in , was quite mind numbing. How someone could be so callous.

“In the trial he actually explained how he did it, I was just overwhelmed with anger. I felt more angry than hurt because I couldn’t do anything.

‘It didn’t affect him. I watched him in court every day and it was nothing. Like he was just in trouble somewhere, but had actually hacked my brother.

“It was hard to understand how anyone could do that.”

Monster caged

Simon was convicted of murder in 2015 and given a life sentence of at least 19 years.

His girlfriend Bird was acquitted of murder, but found guilty of assisting an offender and sentenced to two and a half years.

For Richard, the gruesome way his brother was murdered will torture him forever, but he tries to move on with his life.

He recently had a baby and plans to tell his son all about his uncle and what he was like as a person.

Richard said: “He was a nightmare. He was bad – he always got into trouble, he was a cheeky guy.

“But he was always my brother, he was always there for me.”

Catch ‘The suitcase murders at Quest Red on Saturday. Also available to stream on Discovery+