What happened to Stephen and Carol Baxter? IT worker Luke D’Wit accused of watching dying couple on app after allegedly poisoning them

Stephen and Carol Baxter, a millionaire couple, were allegedly poisoned with the opioid painkiller, fentanyl by an IT worker Luke D'Wit in their home on Mersea Island in Essex. D'Wit also allegedly watched the couple dying on an app, the court was told on Wednesday, February 14, 2024

The couple was found dead in their home on April 9, 2023, by their daughter Ellena. She told the local police that her parents were cold and not moving, according to the Metro News.

D'Wit is an IT worker who worked for the IT department in Baxters' business, per the publication. He also worked in their house three days a week and knew of Carol Baxter's Hashimoto's thyroiditis even caring for her. Metro News noted that Luke almost became "like an adopted son" to the couple.

The prosecuting officer, Tracy Ayling KC, said that D'Wit installed a mobile security surveillance application, which allowed him to monitor cameras from his phone or other devices.

As seen on the Echo News, the alleged murderer, D'Wit, was arrested from his work address at Colchester's Essex University campus on July 6, 2023.

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The alleged poisoning of Stephen and Carol Baxter: "They're frozen. They're so cold."

Stephen and Carol Baxter were the joint directors of Cazsplash, a bath and shower mat firm. They were found dead on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023, and were believed to be killed on April 7, 2023. Their death was initially considered unexpected but not suspicious. However, Echo News reported that three people were arrested upon suspicion.

A post-mortem was also carried out at Broomfield Hospital, which concluded that the provisional cause of death was toxicity with Fentanyl. The drug is 100 times more potent than morphine synthetic opioids, as seen in the publication.

A representative image of the hospital where the post-mortem of the couple was carried out (Image via Getty)

The couple's daughter, Ellena Baxter, and her partner smashed the door of her parents' house as the spare key wasn't in its usual place. Additionally, Ellena could also see Stephen and Carol through the conservatory window, they weren't moving and the latter also had a substance coming out of her mouth.

As per Echo News, Ellena immediately called 999 after smashing the door and told the operator that they needed an ambulance immediately.

"She's been poisoned. My mum's not very well. They're poisoned, they're dead. They're ****ing dead. They're frozen. They're so cold." Ellena said.

The defendant, 34-year-old Luke D'Wit was an employee at Cazsplash, the Baxters' business, and they first met him in 2013. He worked three times a week at their house as they needed help with IT in their business.

According to reports Luke was very calm when the police interviewed him on April 9, 2023, the day Stephen and Carol Baxter were found dead. The local police stated that D'Wit was the last person to see them alive as the doorbell camera footage showed him leaving their house at around 7:55 pm on April 7, 2023. He was also reportedly looking at his phone as he left the house.

This is a representative image of an Adidas bag that was found with packets of Fentanyl (Image via Getty)

D'Wit was arrested from his work address in Colchester's Essex University on multiple charges on July 6, 2023. The charges included suspicion of murdering Stephen and Carol Baxter, changing their will, and stealing Carol's jewelry. The police also found an Adidas bag containing a pharmacy bag with multiple opened and unopened packets of Fentanyl in it.

The police investigation also reported that they found about eighty electronic devices, including cameras, iPads, pen drives, and phones, at D'Wit's address. One of them was used to install a camera in the house and had a phone connected to it which D'Wit allegedly used to watch Stephen and Carol Baxter dying.

The defendant, D'Wit, denied all offenses, including murdering Stephen and Carol Baxter and watching them die, but the trial is ongoing.