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West Mersea murder trial accused took out expensive loans

Essex Police A still image of Luke D'Wit captured on police body worn videoEssex Police
Luke D'Wit spoke to police officers outside the Baxters' house after they were found dead

An IT worker accused of poisoning a married couple with fentanyl and creating a fake will for them had taken out thousands of pounds in loans, a murder trial has heard.

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

Luke D'Wit, 34, of Churchfields, West Mersea, denies their murder and is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

PC Samantha Claxton said Mr D'Wit had three loans to his name.

The officer, from Essex Police, said the first loan, for £7,000, was taken out in October 2020 and was to be paid back over 60 months.

Family handout Stephen Baxter and Carol BaxterFamily handout
Stephen and Carol Baxter were found unresponsive in their conservatory on Easter Sunday 2023

Ms Claxton said two more loans - one for £7,000 and one for £7,500 - were both taken out in December 2022 and to be paid back over 36 months.

Prosecutors have alleged that Mr D'Wit created a fake will for the Baxters on his phone making himself a director of their shower mat company - Cazsplash - the day after they were found dead.

Ms Claxton agreed with Adam Davis KC, defending, that "certainly by April 2023 Cazsplash was a failing company by the looks of it" with "significant debts".

The court heard Cazsplash owed about £62,000.

Solicitor Christopher Andrews said, in a statement read by prosecutor Alex Stein, that Mr and Mrs Baxter had signed wills in his office in Colchester.

He said he prepared the wills in 2021 and that the couple "hadn't decided what to include about [Cazsplash] in their will".

Essex Police An image of the will allegedly written by Luke D'WitEssex Police
A will has been shown to the jury during the trial, which, the prosecution stated, was created by Luke D'Wit

Mr Andrews said whoever drafted the document making Mr D'Wit a director of the firm "does not have an understanding of how a business is run".

The document said the couple's daughter Ellie Baxter would be the "100% shareholder and complete owner", but that D'Wit would be "the director and person with significant control".

Mr Andrews said the document appeared to be "handing control to one person then to another without the logic of how it would work".

He said that in his opinion it was a "very odd document to draft by two people who run Cazsplash".

The trial continues.

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