AN IT worker who poisoned a married couple with painkillers before re-writing their will has been found guilty of two counts of murder.
Luke D’Wit, of Churchfields, West Mersea, had been standing trial for the murder of Stephen and Carol Baxter at Chelmsford Crown Court.
On Wednesday afternoon, a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict after deliberating for more than seven hours.
The verdict follows a six-week trial where the prosecution argued D’Wit, 34, had murdered Mr and Mrs Baxter at their home in West Mersea by poisoning them with lethal doses of fentanyl, a powerful painkiller.
The court heard how D’Wit first met the Baxter family in 2013 and helped them set up a website for Mrs Baxter’s shower mat business, Cazsplash.
Over the next ten years, D’Wit became “like an adopted son” to Mr and Mrs Baxter, and their daughter Ellena told the court she considered D’Wit “a brother”.
When Mr and Mrs Baxter were found dead at their home in Victory Road, on April 9, their deaths were initially treated as unexplained.
Post-mortems later revealed Mrs Baxter, 64, had died from fentanyl and promethazine toxicity, whilst Mr Baxter, 61, had died from a fentanyl overdose.
A murder enquiry was not launched until July, however, when police arrested D’Wit at an office block at the Essex University.
When police searched D’Wit’s belongings, they found fentanyl patches inside a black Adidas bag.
After searching his house, they also found a makeshift mortar and pestle which had been used to grind promethazine medication.
During a six-week trial which started on Wednesday, February 14, it transpired a will had been created on D’Wit’s phone the day after the Baxters were last seen alive.
The will stated that, should the Baxters die, D’Wit would become Cazsplash's person of significant control, with the directorship to be split between him and Ellena Baxter in several years’ time.
When D’Wit was cross-examined by the prosecution, he denied creating the will and claimed he had used the crushed promethazine pills to treat his eczema.
D'Wit is expected to be sentenced at a later date.
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