IT worker denies giving Mersea Island couple powerful opioid drink
Luke D'Wit, 34, is accused of poisoning Stephen and Carol Baxter before rewriting their will
An IT worker accused of the murders of a married couple denied that he gave them a drink with the powerful painkiller fentanyl in it, a court has heard.
Luke D'Wit is accused of poisoning 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, Essex, on Easter Sunday last year, watched on from the public gallery as the defendant gave his evidence on Tuesday.
D'Wit, 34, of West Mersea, denies the murders of Mr and Mrs Baxter and is on trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
He was cross-examined by prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC, who asked him about emails sent under a fake identity of a doctor.
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".
D'Wit also denied that he gave Mrs Baxter a tack - which was found in her system in February 2022 - inside a tablet.
He denied that a black rucksack found by police at the bottom of the bed where he was sleeping, at his mother's house, was his.
Ms Ayling said there were tacks and open tablets found inside the bag.
D'Wit said he "collected that bag from Cazsplash from the office area in there after Carol and Steve passed away".
Asked about a birthday card, to him, that was found inside the bag, D'Wit said: "I possibly put the card in there when they gave it to me."
Ms Ayling said: "You rather specialise in opening up tablets and filling them up, don't you Mr D'Wit?"
The defendant replied: "No."
The trial continues.