Audio released of alleged fentanyl double killer 'practising fake voice' to dupe victim
A jury has heard an audio recording of a man on trial for murdering a married couple allegedly practicing a voice for one of his fake identities.
Luke D’Wit is accused of using fentanyl to poison Stephen Baxter, 61, and his 64-year-old wife Carol and rewriting their will to make him a director of their shower mat firm Cazsplash.
Their daughter Ellie, who found her parents dead at their home in West Mersea, on Easter Sunday last year, watched on from the public gallery as the defendant gave his evidence.
D’Wit, 34, of West Mersea, denies the murders of Mr and Mrs Baxter and is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Jurors heard D’Wit created false identities including a person named Jenny, a theatre producer who could help the couple’s daughter with a career as a vocalist.
D'Wit claims the fake identities were the idea of Mr Baxter.
He was cross-examined by prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC, who asked him about emails sent under a fake identity of a doctor.
Watch the moment Luke D'Wit is arrested at work
She said that the emails told Mr and Mrs Baxter to drink boiling water, lemon and aspirin tablets and that the fake doctor – which prosecutors say was D’Wit – claimed that this would improve their liver health.
D’Wit said he had spoken to Mr Baxter about sending the emails, and that “Carol was worried about her and Steve’s liver from all their drinking”.
Ms Ayling said it was “very convenient” that Mr Baxter was “not here to answer this”.
She suggested to D’Wit: “This was your start of getting both Stephen and Carol to take a concoction you could put something into to kill them off.”
D’Wit, who sat in a wheelchair as he gave his evidence in court, replied: “No.”
Ms Ayling said to D’Wit: “You mixed that up for them, adding in aspirin that would have no effect on the liver, and you threw in a fentanyl patch for good measure.”
The defendant replied: “No.”
He earlier denied a suggestion from the prosecutor that he was feeding Mrs Baxter “cocktails of drugs and potions that were making her unwell”.
The trial continues.
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