A former detective jailed for life for murdering his partner and fellow officer whose body was discovered in a shallow woodland grave was found hanged in his cell today.

Peter Foster's death at Lewes Prison comes just three days after Nathan Vaughan-Jones, who knifed his controlling stepfather to death, was found hanged at the same jail.

And on July 1, sex offender Colin Morton was found dead at the prison. The Ministry of Justice has not yet confirmed how he died or whether he was being treated as a suicide risk at the time. 

It is believed that Foster was on suicide watch. Vaughan-Jones had a history of depression, but was not considered a suicide risk at the time of his death.

Foster, a 36-year-old former detective constable, was jailed for life and told he must serve at least 17 years at Lewes Crown Court last month after admitting murdering his partner.

Foster stabbed Detective Constable Heather Cooper, 33, before dumping her body in Blackdown Woods, near Lurgashall, West Sussex, in October last year.

 Vaughan-Jones, who stabbed his stepfather to death after a long-running family feud boiled over, was found hanged on Friday night.

The 34-year-old had been jailed for 11 years in March after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of 63-year-old Nigel Ross on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Vaughan-Jones stabbed Mr Ross 41 times in the garden of his sister's home in Mill Lane, South Chailey, near Lewes, East Sussex, on March 29 last year.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "HMP Lewes prisoner Peter Foster was found hanging in a cell at 3am on Monday July 30.

"Prison staff tried to resuscitate him and paramedics were called but he was pronounced dead at 3.25am.

"As with all deaths in custody, the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will conduct an investigation."

It is understood Foster was subject to suicide-prevention measures at the jail.

Miss Cooper was killed at the couple's home in Haslemere, Surrey, while she was on maternity leave with her second child, who was born just weeks prior to her death.

The court heard that Foster claimed Miss Cooper had attacked him and he initially acted in self-defence but then his actions turned to aggression.

The hearing was told he hit her over the head 10 times with a baseball bat before stabbing her in the throat.

The court was also told that Foster did not have a clear memory of the events.

Miss Cooper, who grew up in York, joined Surrey Police in 2003 and worked in the Public Protection Investigation Unit based at Guildford police station.

During her career she received several letters of praise from senior officers for her work on various crimes and in 2009 was given a commendation by the force for her "professionalism, dedication and commitment".

Sentencing Foster, Judge Richard Brown described him as an "extremely dangerous individual" who may never be safe to be let out of prison.
He said: "This was a wicked, savage and senseless attack on a young mother in her own home.

"Not only have you taken her life, you have also deprived Joshua and Isabel of a loving mother and, no doubt, devastated her family and friends."
The judge added that aggravating factors were that the attack was carried out in front of the couple's children, that the defendant was trained in martial arts, and the ferocity of the attack, which involved two weapons.

He told him: "Whether or not you will ever be released will be a matter for them.

"Many matters may point to you being an extremely dangerous individual. However, that's a matter for the Parole Board, not me."

Benjamin Aina QC, prosecuting, told the court Foster carried out the attack in front of the couple's two young children, Joshua, now three, and Isabel, who was only three months old at the time.

Foster took time to clean up the blood-soaked crime scene and took Miss Cooper's body to the woodland, where he covered it with bracken, Mr Aina said.

He also told his cousin, David Foster, some of the details about what happened, leading him to alert the police.

The court heard that Foster then led officers to where he had hidden Miss Cooper's body after telling them they should arrest him for murder.

Philippa McAtasney QC, defending, said last month that Foster, who had been married previously, had made a "serious" attempt to commit suicide while on remand and was staying on a mental health wing of the prison.

She said Foster, who worked as a plumber after leaving the police, had over-reacted after Miss Cooper initially attacked him.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Miss Cooper's parents, James and Caroline Cooper, said the murder had an unimaginable impact on the two children who witnessed it.

"Through her death, Heather lost her children for 50 years of her life, Joshua and Isabel have been given a life sentence by the loss of their devoted mother.

"Heather would have been devastated to know she would not be able to bring up her children and Isabel would never know her mummy and Joshua would suffer grief at such a young age."