Latest news with #EssexMillionairesMurder
Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Daily Mirror
Carol Baxter slowly poisoned by handyman who 'played' with her health as fake doctor
When 'caring' handyman Luke D'Wit stepped in to look after his ill friend and employer Carol Baxter, it was assumed this was an act of kindness. Little did the local community know that D'Wit was in fact a deceitful killer A community was left in shock after Carol Baxter and her husband, Stephen, were found dead in their Essex home. Then the horrific cause of their deaths emerged. Successful business owners Carol and Stephen, who were well known in the area for their charitable contributions, had been cruelly poisoned by their friend and carer Luke D'Wit, who'd given the couple a lethal dose of Fentanyl. Regarded as a 'caring' handyman, D'Wit, who'd worked for the couple at their shower mat company, Cazsplash, was anything but. The killer even befriended the pair and was a regular visitor at their home. They didn't know at the time that there was an ulterior motive behind his friendliness. As explored in the two-part ITV documentary Essex Millionaires Murder, Carol suffered from Hashimoto's disease, a thyroid condition, which can result in symptoms such as tiredness, weight gain, and muscle weakness. As Carol's symptoms worsened, D'Wit stepped in under the guise of caring for her. He was, in fact, slowly poisoning her. The 64-year-old's condition deteriorated significantly, and she was left suffering from fatigue and forgetfulness. It was later found that this was all the work of deceitful D'Wit, who had posed as a fake doctor online and given her fake medical advice. D'Wit, 35, encouraged Stephen and Carol's to essentially lace their own 'health' smoothies with an opioid painkiller while using fake identities to control their lives while 'caring' for them. His sinister ulterior motives led investigators to find that the kind and helpful family friend had been playing mind games with the family. The manipulative fraudster had been inventing fake online personas, including those of doctors, while giving dangerous medical diagnoses, and secretly filming the couple in their home before murdering them - all for his own sadistic pleasure. Upon his arrest, officers began to uncover the extreme lengths D'Wit explored to control the Baxters. Police found 80 electronic devices at D'Wit's house, some of which had been used to create more than 20 false personas for his manipulation. After analysis, they found he was offering advice "with no clinical basis" while posing as Dr. Bowden, prosecutors told the trial. It was revealed that D'Wit suggested Carol contact an American Hashimoto expert he had found online, Dr. Andrea Bowden. Soon, Carol and Dr. Andrea were exchanging hundreds of emails. This advice included taking smoothies that were rich in health benefits made by D'Wit, who Dr Bowden praised as a good friend, but instead, they were cocktails of drugs and potions which made her far more unwell than she already was. Carol was starting to experience serious fatigue and forgetfulness, and her doctors had no diagnosis to offer other than anxiety. Andrea further instructed Stephen to send twice-daily videos of Carol so she could observe how she deteriorated throughout the day. She also sent strict rules to follow, which she said would cure Carol. They included rest, exercise, and medicinal remedies "that your good friend Luke can make up." Detective Inspector Lydia George of Essex Police said: "Luke D'Wit visited Carol and Stephen on Easter Friday and was messaging them as this fake doctor while he was in the house with them, helping to make a 'medicinal drink' using a fatal dose of Fentanyl, before leaving at 8 pm. A mobile phone had been set up in the kitchen to record and monitor them. He had watched them die." In March last year, D'Wit, 34, was sentenced to life for the murders, with a minimum of 37 years.
Daily Mirror
29-04-2025
- Daily Mirror
What happened to Carol and Stephen Baxter and how did they die as ITV airs chilling documentary
ITV documentary Essex Millionaires Murder tells the devastating story of Stephen and Carol Baxter who were poisoned by their employee and family friend Luke D'Wit Last night, ITV aired the first part of two-part documentary Essex Millionaires Murder which tells the the true story of Carol and Stephen Baxter. The couple were found dead in their home in West Mersea, murdered by one of the most dangerous men Essex Police say they've ever come across. Stephen, 61, and Carol, 64, were successful in business and were well respected in the community for their contribution to charity. However, the community were left devastated when they were poisoned by fentanyl by their close friend Luke D'Wit in April 2023. Luke worked for the couple at their shower mat company, Cazsplash. He had started working for the couple in 2012, before befriending them and visiting their home regularly. Throughout his time working for and befriending the Baxters, Luke had 80 electronic devices which he had used to record and monitor the pair. Carol, who suffered from thyroid autoimmune condition, Hashimoto's disease, thought she was being helped by Luke. However, the smoothies he would prepare to "help" her were actually laced with drugs, making her condition worse. In April 2023, both Carol and Stephen were poisoned with fentanyl after their drinks were laced by D'Wit. Although their deaths was initially treated by Essex Police as unexplained, it later transpired that the couple had deadly levels of fentanyl in their blood - which started a murder investigation. Luke had set up hidden cameras to watch his victims die, and framed their daughter Ellie. Ellie discovered both her parents dead in their conservatory armchairs, and later found herself interviewed as a suspect. He had also created a fake will to appoint himself as director of the shower mat company. Working for the company as an, IT consultant Luke had made more than 20 fake accounts to communicate with Carol – including one being a US doctor, Andrea Bowden, who was experienced in Hashimoto's disease. D'Wit was later sentenced to 37 years in prison. senior crown prosecutor of the Complex Casework Unit in the CPS East of England called his "levels of deceitfulness and manipulation deeply disturbing." 'Luke D'Wit was the last person to see Carol and Stephen Baxter alive and, in the beginning of the investigation, was treated as a witness. The evidence that was gathered showed the lengths to which he went to so he could gain the trust of the Baxter family and evade suspicion. The levels of deceitfulness and manipulation he used are extremely disturbing."
ITV News
28-04-2025
- ITV News
'I was framed for murdering my parents': The true story behind the Essex Millionaires Poisoning
In April 2023, Ellie Baxter discovered both her parents dead in their conservatory armchairs, and then found herself in a police interview room, questioned as a suspect... Ellie had been framed. 'Essex Millionaires Murder', a two-part ITV documentary, tells the true story of Carol and Stephen Baxter, who were poisoned with fentanyl by one of the most dangerous men Essex Police say they've ever come across. Family friend and employee of the Baxters, Luke D'Wit set up a hidden camera and watched his victims die, framing their daughter Ellie. In March 2024, D'Wit was sentenced to 37 years behind bars and only now can Ellie tell her story alongside Senior Investigating Officer, DI Lydia George on the sofa.
