New ITV documentary on investigation into fentanyl killer Luke d'Wit who murdered Essex millionaires

ITV News

28-04-2025

A new documentary will show never-seen-before footage of a murder investigation which eventually led to the capture of a killer described as one of the "most dangerous men" detectives had ever encountered.
Luke D'Wit drugged Stephen and Carol Baxter with the strong painkiller fentanyl at their home in Mersea Island, Essex.
Mr Baxter, 61, and his 64-year-old wife were found dead sitting in armchairs in their conservatory on Easter Sunday, 2023.
Essex Police said the 'cool, calculated killer' D'Wit went to lengths they had never seen before to plan his crimes and would have gone on to kill again if he was not caught.
D'Wit worked for and befriended the Baxters and spent years controlling them, with his elaborate plot involving false identities, fake wills and deadly medication.
Det Supt Rob Kirby said the 34-year-old had 'planned their deaths meticulously' and 'appeared to enjoy control' over the family.
Mr and Mrs Baxter's daughter Ellie told the trial that D'Wit would come round to their house 'every day', knew the front gate security pin, location of a key safe, and would give medication to Mrs Baxter in the mornings and evenings.
He invented fake support groups and doctors to provide advice on Mrs Baxter's thyroid condition, with audio recordings capturing D'Wit 'practising fake voices'.
D'Wit was convicted of their murders n March last year and jailed for a life. He'll spend at least 37 years behind bars - one of the longest sentences ever secured after an Essex Police investigation.
A separate video captured on police bodycam then showed D'Wit telling an officer outside the couple's home that he had become "uneasy" with the lack of communication from them in the days leading up to their deaths.
Luke D'Wit was initially treated as a witness rather than a suspect - watch officers speak to him shortly after discovering the bodies of Carol and Stephen Baxter
The day after their deaths, D'Wit wrote a fake will on his phone in which he made himself the beneficiary and inheritor of their shower mat firm Cazsplash.
Now the painstaking investigation into the murders will feature in a new documentary called The Essex Millionaire Murders.
The two-part documentary begins on Tuesday at 9pm - but is already available to watch on ITVX - features interviews with four Essex Police officers, including Detective Inspector Lydia George, the Senior Investigating Officer on the case.
Also featured are DC Kerry Turner, the Family Liaison Officer for the case, DC Emily Larkin, who managed the medical aspect of the investigation, and DC Reuben Brame, who reviewed the vast number of digital devices involved.
The documentary explores D'Wit's grooming and control of the Baxter family in the years leading up to their deaths.
The couple's daughter Ellena, who discovered the bodies of her parents , also contributes as does Tracy Ayling KC, who led the prosecution of D'Wit at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Speaking after D'Wit's sentencing in March 2024, DI George said: 'It is simply impossible to put a number on the lives of Carol and Stephen. They were loving, generous parents. They helped people and touched the lives of many.
'They were entering a period in their lives where they should have been able to enjoy precious time with their grandchildren...
'... Luke D'Wit took all that away in April 2023. He tried to cover it up. He went to great lengths to blame others who we know were not involved in any way.
'What we do know is; the significant sentence handed down is entirely fitting for the pathological liar that he is.'