WILLIAMS VERDICT: PRETTY Natalie Williams divulged to her work colleagues secret plans to divorce her husband on the day she was murdered, we can exclusively reveal.

The cosmetics buyer told up to 15 people she was planning to leave her second husband Randle, including four Jolly's colleagues, on April 22 the day Williams strangled her to death in the murky waters of the River Avon.

Senior police officers later confirmed they took statements from Natalie's workmates who spoke of her divorce plans.

The revelations mean divorce could be another motive for murder added to the existing motives of jealousy and money. Williams tried to cash in on more than £700,000 of life insurance policies in the month after his wife's death.

The computer boss was also insanely jealous of Natalie's flirtatious behaviour and believed she was embarking on a string of affairs.

The jealousy often exploded into violence with Williams attacking neighbours Brian Anderson and Guy Clayton, who he claimed to have caught in compromising positions with his wife.

Natalie was beaten on one occasion when Williams hit her in the nose leaving blood pouring from an open wound.

The couple began their fiery marriage on Valentine's Day 1997, forged from a whirlwind romance when the couple were both living in Newbury.

Natalie, described as a Marilyn Monroe figure by friends, had been married before to David Brown, but the relationship deteriorated rapidly as in her teenage years she was in the grip of eating disorders and depression.

Following Natalie's affair with dentist employer Ross MacFarlane the couple moved to Bradford on Avon but Williams' jealousy persisted.

First it was the neighbours who were under suspicion, then her work colleague Steve Edwards. Williams even set up a bogus e-mail account to test his wife's fidelity.

Natalie meanwhile was embarking on an online affair with Mr Edwards, with the couple sending each other sexually explicit e-mails.

Builder Jeremy Watson also said he had a sexual relationship with Natalie in Bath and west Wiltshire towns during her time in Bradford on Avon.

By January 2002 huge cracks started to show in the relationship with Natalie arrested for breach of the peace after threatening to kill her husband in a drunken and drugged state.

Senior officer Det Insp Graham Hatswell said Natalie was nothing more than a "trophy wife" another weapon Williams recruited for his arsenal of deception.

He said: "Throughout his life he has been conning people and no one has ever challenged him."