A man accused of murdering a mother-of-three confessed he had slit her throat and cut her up in a bath, his former wife told a jury.

Barbara Whyte, 43, who was married to Steven Jackson for four years in the 1990s, claimed he boasted to her that he would never be caught for the murder of Kimberley MacKenzie.

She was giving evidence at the High Court in Glasgow in the trial of Jackson, 40, and Michelle Higgins, 29, who deny murdering 37-year-old Ms MacKenzie at 40A Market Street in Montrose, Angus, on October 27 last year and then dismembering her body.

Ms Whyte told prosecutor Ashley Edwards QC she got in touch with her former husband after 17 years by contacting him on Facebook in October last year.

At first he did not respond but phoned her on November 3, 2015, and asked her to join him at a Wetherspoons pub in Blairgowrie, Perthsire.

She told the court at the end of the evening they went to a B&B in Blairgowrie.

Ms Edwards said: "What happened in the room?"

Ms Whyte replied: "Steven started telling me about his actions the week previous. He told me how he cut up someone.

The QC added: "Did Mr Jackson tell you about the occasion when Kim came to his door?"

Ms Whyte replied: "He sure did. He said Michelle Higgins came running through and hit her her over the back of the head with a hammer.

"He said they removed her from there to the bathroom."

Ms Edwards then asked: "Was this Steven Jackson and Michelle Higgins?" Ms Whyte replied: "Yes. They moved the body into the bathroom and he then slit her throat."

Ms Whyte was asked what else Jackson said to her and replied: "He said he cut her up. He said he cut her legs and thighs. He was sort of joking and said it took two black bins bags to cover up her thighs."

The prosecutor asked: "He found it sort of amusing?" The witness told her: "Yes. He found it amusing."

Ms Whyte said Jackson also spoke about police turning up after Ms MacKenzie had been reported missing.

She recalled: "He started laughing because they had come into the house while she (Ms MacKenzie) was in the bath."

The witness was asked if Jackson had told her what was used to cut of the body and she said: "A saw - a brand-new saw that he got someone else to purchase."

Ms Edwards said: "Mr Jackson told you he cut up Kimberley MacKenzie with a saw?"

The witness replied: "He went on to tell me that Michelle Higgins was bipolar and having a manic attack and they used caustic soda to clean not just the body but the house."

She added: "He said Michelle Higgins had OCD and she cleaned like hell. He said he replaced everything that needed replacing, like pipes. He said he would never get caught."

Ms Whyte was asked if Jackson told her anything else and said: "Yes. He put her in the bins and recycling bins and he was adamant that no one would ever find them."

Ms Whyte claimed Jackson had a plan if was caught: "He said he was going to go for diminished responsibility that he would be out in less than ten years and he would only be in his late 40s."

Jackson and Higgins are accused of murdering Ms MacKenzie by repeatedly striking her on the head, neck and body with a hammer or similar instrument at 40a Market Street, Montrose, on October 27, last year.

They are also accused of attempting to defeat the ends of justice by dismembering her body using a saw, knives and a screwdriver and wrapping parts of her body in bin liners and bags and hiding them in bins at 40 Market Street, Patons Lane, Chapel Street and 73 William Phillips Drive, all Montrose, between October 27 and November 4, 2015.

Both deny the charges against them.

The trial before judge Lady Rae continues.