Crime fans can't believe it when they see how their mother hid her dead husband at home for decades without the children knowing

In 2015, the small but close-knit Welsh village of Beddau made headlines when a well-preserved body was discovered in the overgrown garden of an apartment block.

And when it became known in the weeks that followed that a woman in her eighties – a resident of the apartment building – had committed the gruesome crime 18 years earlier, And had hidden the body in her kingdom own home, Neither the police nor neighbors, friends or relatives could understand the news.

This is the story of Sky's brand new three-part hit The corpse next doorthat seeks to answer questions about the crime that shocked the nation nine years ago.

However, before we get into the details of the series' spooky story, we suggest you take a look at what viewers have made of it so far.

“The corpse next door on NowTV is a really good true crime documentary if you're looking for something to watch in the evening,” one fan wrote on Twitter.

“Well paced for only 3 episodes, not crammed with filler and repetition, really surprising twists and turns, and the victims' voices at the center.”

Another continued: “I’m just watching” The corpse next door” Sky documentaries, you couldn't write that👍”.

The true crime series blew viewers away. (Sky/Now)

“The corpse next door is a wild ride,” added a third.

A fourth continued: “I just watched a heartbreaking 3-part documentary called ‘The corpse next door“. Highly recommended. If it were a movie, you wouldn't believe it.”

Okay, now you can see how much hype the show has received so far, let's get into the specifics of the crime.

As I said, in 2015 a body was discovered in the garden of an apartment block.

The body, which was wrapped in 14 layers of thick plastic, was that of a man in his mid-40s. However, investigating officers were unable to identify him.

Weeks later, however, an eccentric old lady named Leigh Sabine was identified as the perpetrator after the man's body was finally identified as her “deceased” husband, John Sabine.

But her neighbors and friends were unaware of her sinister nature and initially put an end to any speculation that she might be connected to the crime.

Leigh Sabine was immediately linked to the crime, but why? (Sky/Now)

Only when the police delved deeper into Mrs. Sabine’s life did they discover that everyone she knew told contradictory stories about her life.

According to friends, Leigh, who moved to the village in 1997, told one friend she was a cabaret singer, another that her husband John had died several years ago, and a third that she had five children but that no one had ever seen or heard from them.

After recovering documents from her home, police discovered her husband's death certificate, which stated that he had died of an illness years earlier.

She also gave away various items from her home, including a vacuum cleaner, a decorative frog and ornate jewelry.

A stack of angry letters was also found addressed to five people living in New Zealand with the surname “Sabine” and had not been sent.

After searching for their names, Welsh police were able to track down Leigh and John Sabine in a child abandonment case in New Zealand.

After emigrating to the UK, the couple made headlines across New Zealand before eventually returning to their then-grown children.

Leigh and John Sabine left their five children behind in New Zealand. (Sky/Now)

Tragically, the Sabine children never recovered from their trauma and only on a few occasions were some of them able to visit their parents in the UK.

At some point, however, they broke off contact with the children and the last time they spoke to their parents again was in the mid-1990s.

At this point, the timeline of when John Sabine was last heard from or seen was somehow distorted.

Officials re-examined the death certificate found in Leigh's belongings and found that the date of the man's presumed death did not match John's official date of birth.

A positive DNA match with a British man, later found to be John's son from a previous relationship, clearly identified the body as that of John Sabine.

Now all the officers had to do was connect Leigh to the murder.

A death certificate for John Sabine was found in Leigh's possession. (Sky/Now)

After a final appeal to the public, a former friend of the couple – who had also not seen John since the late 1990s – came forward to claim that Leigh had called her in a bizarre phone call in 1997 and told her that she had “beaten John with a stone frog” because he was “getting on her nerves”.

The friend assumed it was a joke and dismissed the remark.

Fortunately, the officers managed to arrest the frog. When analyzing the ornament, they discovered not only Leigh's fingerprints, but also traces of John's blood.

It was later discovered that Leigh had murdered John in his sleep—officials felt she resented his insinuations about neglecting her children—and that she had kept his remains in her small two-bedroom apartment for 18 long years.

And just when you think that this crime thriller, full of unexpected twists and turns, should be over at this point, another surprise awaits the audience.

Leigh was found guilty of murder but managed to evade arrest. (Sky/Now)

Because when the time finally came to arrest Leigh Sabine for the murder of her husband John, the officers were unable to do so.

She had died of cancer just three months before the body was discovered…

Regard The corpse next door on Sky Documentaries and NOW.