Man who fatally poisoned couple jailed for life

An IT worker who fatally poisoned a couple with the opioid painkiller fentanyl and rewrote their will has been jailed for a minimum of 37 years.

Stephen Baxter, 61, and his wife Carol, 64, were found dead at their home in West Mersea, Essex, in April 2023.

Luke D'Wit, 34, used fake identities to manipulate the couple before he laced their medication with the drug, a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

D'Wit, from West Mersea, will serve at least 37 years of a life sentence.

Det Supt Rob Kirby, the head of major crime at Essex Police, said he had "absolutely no doubt" that D'Wit would have committed further murders had he not been caught.

He said the defendant was "one of the most dangerous men" he had seen during his policing career.

The trial heard D'Wit secretly laced the Baxters' medication with fentanyl and made sure they consumed it when he visited their house in Victory Road on 7 April 2023.

Mr and Mrs Baxter's daughter, Ellie, found her parents dead in their conservatory when she visited two days later on Easter Sunday.

D'Wit arrived soon after and described himself as a "friend" to a 999 call handler, before calmly giving a false account as Miss Baxter was heard in distress in the background.

The defendant first met the Baxters between 2012 and 2013 after he was asked to build a website for their shower mat company, Cazsplash.

The court heard the day after they were found dead, D'Wit rewrote their will so he could seize control of the business.

Tracy Ayling KC, prosecuting, said the murders were the culmination of years of manipulation by D'Wit, mostly focused on Mrs Baxter but also – at times – her daughter.

Mrs Baxter had befriended D'Wit through the business and trusted him to help her manage her thyroid condition, Hashimoto's disease.

The jury was told D'Wit had 80 electronic devices and some of them had been used to create more than 20 false personas "to manipulate" Mrs Baxter.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.