A man has admitted murdering his wife whose body was found in the attic of their home in Forest Hill. 

The body of Tia Simmonds, 32, was found covered in clothing at their home on Parbury Road on January 3 this year. 

Her husband, 39-year-old Shane Simmonds, pleaded guilty to her murder on Monday (October 14), the BBC reports. 

He had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility but changed his plea to murder on the day his trial was set to begin at the Old Bailey. 

He had also previously pleaded guilty to two counts of rape related to a separate woman. 

Simmonds will be sentenced on Thursday (October 17) and will face a life sentence. 

Previously police said Simmonds turned himself into a south London police station in the early hours of the morning of January 3 claiming that he had harmed a woman at an address on Parbury Road. 

Police went to the scene and found the body of a 32-year-old Tia.