The Baxter Murders
6/9/202635 min
On Easter Sunday 2023, retired couple Stephen and Carol Baxter were found dead in the conservatory of their home on Mersea Island, off the Essex coast. Initially their deaths were - until toxicology revealed both had been poisoned with the powerful opioid fentanyl. Suspicion fell on Luke D’Wit, the unassuming IT consultant who had spent a decade quietly embedding himself in the Baxters’ lives as friend, employee and unofficial carer. In this episode, forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes profiles a real-life puppet master — a man who built twenty fake online identities to control his victims, forged a will to inherit their business, and watched on a hidden phone feed as they died. Listen now to The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes.
Key psychological themes
This episode explores: psychopathy and the urge for control • the long con — grooming adults over a decade • catfishing and the use of fake online identities • performative care and the "surrogate son" persona • power, patience and the puppet-master mindset
Contributors featured in this episode
Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.
Ellis Whitehouse — Chief Reporter, Essex Live; covered the case from the day the bodies were discovered.
Hannah Pettifer — ITV News reporter; reported on the investigation and trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Gary Cunningham — Former homicide detective.
Professor Atholl Johnston — Professor of Clinical Pharmacology; expert on fentanyl and overdose.
Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby — Senior investigating officer, Essex Police
What you'll learn in this episode
How Luke D’Wit spent ten years embedding himself in the Baxters’ lives as IT consultant, friend and carer for Carol
Why fentanyl — fifty times stronger than heroin and a hundred times stronger than morphine — was the near-perfect murder weapon
How D’Wit created twenty fake online identities, including a Florida-based doctor and a confidante called "Jenny", to control Carol Baxter’s medical treatment
What a metal tack found inside Carol’s body, more than a year before the murders, revealed about D’Wit’s earlier intentions
Why a hidden phone live-streaming the Baxters’ final hours back to D’Wit’s home was the "silver bullet" piece of evidence
What Kerry Daynes identifies as the true motive — power and control, not money — once D’Wit’s plan to inherit a failing business unravelled
Relevant links and further reading
Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)
Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)
https://www.essexlive.news/news/essex-news/listen-999-call-between-accused-9100011 — Essex Live: the harrowing 999 call from the scene
Essex Police — DI Rob Kirby on convicted killer Luke D’Wit (court-steps statement, available on Essex Police’s YouTube channel)
BBC News and The Guardian — contemporary coverage of the Mersea Island murders and the Chelmsford Crown Court trial
Support for those affected by sudden bereavement, poisoning and coercive control — Cruse Bereavement Support • Victim Support • Hourglass (for older victims of abuse)
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Content note
This episode contains an emergency-services recording made at the scene of two sudden deaths, and descriptions of poisoning, coercive control and the deliberate killing of vulnerable adults. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from Cruse Bereavement Support (0808 808 1677) and Victim Support (0808 168 9111).
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsKerry Daynes· Host0:00
[dramatic music] A 999 control room in the southeast of England. On a busy bank holiday, the staff have learned to expect the unexpected. But nothing could prepare them for this harrowing message timed at 1:45 PM.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:19
Right. Okay. Right. Are you with the patient now?
Luke D'Wit· Soundbite0:22
[crying] They are there.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:25
Right. Okay.
Luke D'Wit· Soundbite0:27
They're, they're like stiff. They're, um- So you're saying they're...
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:29
So just to confirm, how many people are hurt?
Luke D'Wit· Soundbite0:31
Two.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:33
Two. Right.
Ellis Whitehouse0:34
[crying] The 999 call was extremely harrowing. It's visceral, it's raw, it's horrible.
Luke D'Wit· Soundbite0:43
[crying] So I need to come outside.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:47
Yeah, that's absolutely fine. So I'm organizing help for you now. Just stay on the phone with me.
Luke D'Wit· Soundbite0:51
[crying] Right.
Hannah Pettifer0:56
There were two people on the call to the emergency services. One was the couple's daughter, whose world had just come crashing down.
Luke D'Wit· Soundbite1:03
[crying] Yeah, I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you inside. You can hear, they're both just devastated.
Kerry Daynes· Host1:10
[crying] I'm Kerry Daynes, and in my career as a forensic psychologist, I've studied and met many of Britain's most notorious criminals. I'd like to say nothing can surprise me, but then I come across another case that still has the power to shock.