A GUILTY verdict against an undertaker for the murder of his wife, former Blackheath teacher Alethea Taylor, has sparked fears he may have used a funeral to dispose of her body.

Adulterer John Taylor began a 17-year prison sentence this week after a jury convicted him of the killing of his “devoted” wife who dissapeared from their Herefordshire home in January 2012 and whose body has never been found.

Her devastated friend Gail Walder, who taught with Mrs Taylor at Blackheath Primary School, believes 61-year-old Taylor thought he had committed the perfect crime with his profession providing the opportunity of getting rid of her body without trace.

“I don’t think there’s a hope in hell’s chance that he will ever say what he did with her. People like that don’t, it’s their way of keeping control. I hope he rots in his cell,” said the Halesowen mother-of-two.

Mrs Taylor, aged 63, had no children of her own, but was a dedicated teacher, having taught at Blackheath for about 40 years, where she also played piano at school assemblies.

Throughout the five-week trial at Hereford Crown Court unfaithful Taylor, who was having an affair with a widow, persisted with his original claim that she had been suffering from dementia and had simply wandered off.

Mrs Walder wondered if police would now start exhuming graves, but a West Mercia force spokesman said there were no plans to carry out any exhumations.

He said the possibility that Taylor had used his funeral business to dispose of her body had been investigated and there was “nothing specific or obvious” to suggest that he did.

Mrs Taylor’s niece Lorraine McKillop, hit out at his “selfish act” in not giving the family closure.

She said: “I find it very hard to understand why John would have done this. Why not just walk away, rather than the selfish act of leaving a lot of people wondering where she is?

“I hope some day that we can find her and put her to rest in the proper fashion that is so deserving of someone who helped and cared for others.”