Trial told West Mersea couple thought murder accused Luke D'Wit was 'weird'

A married couple who died of fentanyl poisoning thought their alleged killer was "a bit weird", a court was told.

Stephen Baxter, 61, and his wife Carol, 64, were found dead at their home in West Mersea, Essex, on 9 April 2023.

Their daughter, Ellie Baxter, said Luke D'Wit would care for Mrs Baxter but made the family follow a "set of rules" to ensure they did not interfere.

On trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, Mr D'Wit, a 34-year-old employee and friend of the couple, denies murder.

Giving evidence, Ms Baxter said Mr D'Wit met the family between 2012 and 2013 after he was asked to build a website for their bathmat business Cazsplash.

Over the years Mr D'Wit, of Churchfields, West Mersea, became more involved in family life and helped Mrs Baxter manage her thyroid condition, Hashimoto's, Ms Baxter told the jury.

"There was a lot going on all the time," she said. "My parents would be irritated that he was there a lot but obviously he was still there all the time so it was confusing.

"They did think he was a bit weird but nerdy weird, good with technology."

Tracy Ayling KC, prosecuting, previously told the trial that Mr D'Wit had 80 electronic devices and alleged some had been used to create false personalities "to manipulate" Mrs Baxter.

She alleged Mr D'Wit posed as a doctor on one of the devices and offered her advice "with no clinical basis".

"There was just this set of rules we had to follow," Ms Baxter said.

"She'd have to take these herbal remedies and [Mr D'Wit] would make all these smoothies and mum said they were disgusting," Ellie Baxter said.

"I think mum got a bit desperate and she got to a point where she would to anything to get better.

"No one was ever allowed inside [Mr D'Wit's house]."

The jury heard how Mr D'Wit had photos on his phone of Mr and Mrs Baxter dead in their armchairs at their home in Victory Road.

Ms Ayling alleged they were taken by Mr D'Wit who had installed a "mobile security surveillance application" on his phone.

This allowed him to monitor a camera from another device where, at some point between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, he was "watching them die", she said.

Ellie Baxter arrived at the property on Easter Sunday and found her parents dead inside the conservatory.

Toxicology reports later showed fentanyl was a factor in both deaths.

The jury earlier heard the defendant had "rewritten their will and stolen Carol's jewellery, among many other things, to benefit from their deaths".

Paying tribute to her parents in court, Ellie Baxter said her mum was "lovely, really bubbly and flamboyant".

She added: "They were going to go into retirement and finally live because [dad had] worked so hard."

The trial continues.

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