The primary a part of ITV’s The Essex Millionaire Murders will air tonight (April 28), reliving certainly one of Essex Police’s most advanced investigations, as they attempt to clear up the tragic case of Stephen and Carol Baxter in April 2023.
The couple had been discovered useless at their house in West Mersea, murdered by their household pal, Luke D’Wit.
Forward of tonight’s screening, which options interviews with 4 Essex Police officers, we glance into the the case of the Essex Millionaire Murders.
Who had been Carol and Stephen Baxter?
Carol and Stephen Baxter had been a rich couple from Mersea Island, Essex, recognized for his or her profitable enterprise and charitable contributions.
Stephen, aged 61, and Carol, aged 64, had been revered members of their group and had a repute for being beneficiant and kind-hearted.
They’d two kids, Harry and Ellie.
Their daughter, Ellie Baxter, mentioned: “My mum was energetic and she or he at all times pushed me to be higher. We’d have girly days out on the spa and loads of procuring journeys. She was my greatest pal.”
And he or she mentioned of her father in her tribute: “My dad was a robust man; ‘there are not any quick cuts in life’, he would at all times say. He labored daily of his life and offered for mum, my brother and I. There was nothing we ever wanted. He liked us all.”
She added: “Dad additionally liked to play guitar. In the summertime we might have bonfires and the guitar would at all times come out. Watching my dad play and sing so freely is the place my love for music started. Dad initially obtained my brother Harry into guitar classes the place they might go collectively and study then serenade mum and I.”
What occurred to Stephen and Carol Baxter?
Luke D’Wit, now aged 35, labored for Stephen and Carol Baxter at their bathe mat firm, Cazsplash. In keeping with the couple’s daughter, D’Wit had been introduced in round 2012 to assist construct the corporate’s web site, earlier than befriending them and visiting the couple at their house each day.
Through the years, he turned more and more concerned within the Baxter household’s life, serving to Carol to handle her thyroid autoimmune situation, Hashimoto’s illness.
D’Wit created a number of pretend greater than 20 on-line identities to help his deception and had 80 digital gadgets which he used to observe and file the couple. A type of personas he created was a Florida-based physician he named ‘Andrea Bowden’.
Throughout the trial, it was revealed that D’Wit would put together smoothies for Carol, claiming they had been filled with well being advantages. Nevertheless, these smoothies had been really laced with medication that worsened her already fragile situation.
Then, in April 2023, D’Wit poisoned the couple by lacing their drinks with fentanyl.
Nevertheless, on investigation, fentanyl and metallic tacks had been present in a bag belonging to Luke D’Wit. Comparable metallic tacks had been present in Carol’s abdomen previous to her loss of life.
Cameras had additionally been put in within the Baxter household house, permitting D’Wit to observe the loss of life of the couple. He later referred to as the emergency providers, offering a relaxed however false account.
On the identical day D’Wit had created a pretend will to nominate himself as director of the bathe mat firm.
In an announcement following D’Wit’s conviction, the couple’s daughter mentioned: “My mum and pop are useless. However they didn’t simply die. They had been taken from me and my younger kids.
“My mom misplaced her freedom, her will, her means to operate two years previous to her homicide as a consequence of her sickness.
“An sickness nobody may assist with or perceive as a result of it was contrived by Luke D’Wit.”
Who was Luke D’Wit and what occurred to him?
Luke D’Wit, 34, was jailed at Chelmsford Crown Court docket for all times with a minimal time period of 37 years
Essex Police / PA
Luke D’Wit was born and raised in Mersea Island. On the face of it, he appeared an unlikely assassin. A pc science graduate, he labored as an IT advisor. He additionally volunteered at an area soup kitchen, presenting himself as a useful and upstanding member of the group. Nevertheless, beneath this façade, D’Wit harboured manipulative tendencies that may later come to mild in the course of the investigation into the murders of Carol and Stephen Baxter.
After serving to the couple with their web site and befriending them, the Baxters’ daughter, Ellie, mentioned her dad and mom taken care of D’Wit after his father died, taking him “underneath their wing”, and letting him “take part”.
The couple’s loss of life didn’t initially current as suspicious, however a autopsy was essential in uncovering the reality. In court docket, the prosecution introduced cellphone evaluation, toxicology studies, and witness statements to show Luke D’Wit was behind the fastidiously deliberate murders, utilizing his technological experience to assist him commit the crimes.
In his defence, D’Wit claimed Stephen was co-conspirator, utilizing the fictional personas to guarantee Carol that she was receiving assist for her well being circumstances.
He was sentenced to 37 years in jail.
“Luke D’Wit was the final individual to see Carol and Stephen Baxter alive and, at first of the investigation, was handled as a witness. The proof that was gathered confirmed the lengths to which he went to so he may acquire the belief of the Baxter household and evade suspicion. The degrees of deceitfulness and manipulation he used are extraordinarily disturbing,” mentioned Andrew Younger, senior crown prosecutor of the Complicated Casework Unit within the CPS East of England space.
Why did D’Wit kill his associates?
Luke D’Wit orchestrated a calculated and sinister scheme to change the wills of Carol and Stephen Baxter, in the end planning their murders in their very own house to safe a controlling stake of their thriving enterprise.
Throughout the listening to, Lord Justice Lavender labelled D’Wit ‘merciless and mindless’ and praised Essex Police’s Detective Inspector Lydia George for her work in securing this sentence.
Lord Justice Lavender acknowledged the deaths had been based mostly on a “important diploma of planning”, however added that D’Wit has by no means admitted what he did, and because of this offered no rationalization.
Did D’Wit kill anybody else?
Following D’Wit’s conviction, a evaluate of the deaths of D’Wit’s father and grandfather was opened. His father was discovered useless in his armchair after being prescribed fentanyl. Detectives are investigating the loss of life of D’Wit’s grandfather as a part of their evaluate, although particulars about his loss of life are usually not clear.
Det Supt Rob Kirby mentioned D’Wit was “one of the harmful males” he had handled in his profession. He beforehand instructed the BBC he had “completely little question” D’Wit would have carried out additional murders had he not been caught.
Officers “won’t hesitate to behave” in the event that they uncover contemporary proof, an Essex Police spokesman mentioned.
• The 2-part documentary The Essex Millionaire Murders airs on ITV1 at 9pm on Monday, April 28, and Tuesday, April 29. Each episodes are additionally out there for streaming on ITVX.
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