Man accused of murdering married couple ‘said he was almost like a son to them’

A man accused of poisoning a married couple with fentanyl described himself as “almost like a son” to them, a murder trial heard.

Luke D’Wit allegedly rewrote a will for Stephen and Carol Baxter, making himself a director of their shower mat company, the day after they were found dead, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.

The 34-year-old denies the murders of Mr Baxter, 61, and his 64-year-old wife.

Community first responder Robert Boorman was called to the couple’s address in Victory Road in West Mersea, Essex, on April 9 last year.

Giving evidence in court on Wednesday, he said he was let in through the front door of the property and led to the conservatory where the pair were dead in their individual armchairs.

Mr Boorman said there was “a lot of broken glass” and he was later told by the couple’s daughter, Ellie Baxter, that a neighbour had given them a hammer so they could break the glass to gain access to the conservatory.

Tracy Ayling KC, prosecuting, asked Mr Boorman if Mr and Mrs Baxter appeared to be dead.

“They did at the time, they were quite grey in colour,” he said, adding that he checked for Mr Baxter’s pulse but could not find one and he was cold.

He said a colleague checked for Mrs Baxter’s pulse.

“There was nothing we felt we could do for them,” said Mr Boorman.

He said that the couple’s daughter was present, as well as her partner, and a man who said he was a family friend – said to be D’Wit.

Ms Ayling, leading Mr Boorman through his evidence, said: “Did he describe himself as almost like a son?”

“Yes,” replied Mr Boorman.

He said that a colleague asked if the deceased were on medication, and when asked if it was the “good friend” who got medication from a kitchen drawer and from upstairs he replied “yes”.

Ms Ayling asked him if the friend put the medication in a box by the back door, and Mr Boorman replied “yes”.

Mr Boorman said he did not look at the medication, adding: “Myself, I don’t understand much about them.”

He said that in his role as a community first responder he is trained to provide “basic interventions” until paramedics arrive.

Mr Boorman said a colleague suggested they should check for gas, adding: “We were told they had their boiler serviced a couple of weeks ago, and just in case.”

The trial was previously told that the fire service ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning.

Ms Ayling asked Mr Boorman: “Did you get the impression the property was extremely clean and tidy?”

“Yes,” said Mr Boorman.

He agreed that he did not see anything out near the couple, “not even a cup, mug or book”.

Jurors were then taken through sequence of events documents with witness Catheryn Taylor, a criminal evidence analyst with Essex Police.

She said she had spent “thousands of hours” working on the case in the last seven months, during which time she said she had not worked on anything else.

The trial continues.