Man sentenced to 22 years for murder of 63-year-old in Norwich
Theodore Lynch had previously denied murder
A 41-year-old man will spend 22 years in prison for the murder of a 63-year-old man in his Norwich flat.
Theodore Lynch, c/o HMP Norwich, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court today.
He was found guilty by a jury of the murder of Leslie Smith yesterday in the same court.
The trial lasted just over two weeks.
Lynch had previously denied murder and pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
What happened?
The body of Mr Smith was discovered by police at a flat in Suffolk Square on Sunday 17 October 2021 when concerns were raised by a neighbour.
Officers found the body in a state of decomposition, indicating it had been in place for some time.
This was initially not thought to be suspicious, but concerns were raised the death may not have been accidental after a coroner's post mortem exam on 22 October 2021.
A further Home Office post mortem examination was then completed and identified that there was a fatal hemothorax, where an injury or other factors cause a collection of blood in the chest, consistent with a penetrating wound having entered the front of the neck.
Detectives from the Joint Major Investigation Team then launched the investigation into the death and identified that the most likely date of death was 5 October, 12 days before the body was discovered.
They linked Theodore Lynch to the death through CCTV, witness and digital enquiries and he was first arrested on 26 October 2021, before being later charged with the murder.