On April 9, 2023, Carol and Stephen Baxter were found dead in their armchairs, side by side in their West Mersea home, a stone’s throw from the Essex coast. The couple, both in their 60s, ran a successful bath mat business called Cazsplash. At first, their deaths didn’t raise alarms. An unexpected tragedy, sure, but nothing sinister—or so it seemed. That illusion shattered when toxicology reports revealed a grim truth: fentanyl, a brutally potent opioid, coursed through their systems. This wasn’t an accident. It was murder.
Carol, 64, and Stephen, 61, weren’t just business owners; they were fixtures in their community, known for their warmth and generosity. They’d taken a young IT worker, Luke D’Wit, under their wing years earlier, back in 2013. D’Wit, then in his 20s, helped with their company’s website, clicking away at their home three days a week. To their daughter, Ellena, he was almost family—a quiet guy they supported after his father’s death. But beneath the surface, D’Wit was weaving a chilling scheme.
By April 2023, he’d been at it for years. He posed as a doctor, feeding Carol fake medical advice for her autoimmune condition. He slipped drugs into her system, worsening her health, all while playing the loyal friend. Then, on April 7, he laced the couple’s drinks with fentanyl, enough to kill them both. Metal tacks were later found in Carol’s stomach, a bizarre detail matched by tacks in a bag D’Wit owned. He’d even installed cameras in their home, watching as the Baxters died, his phone in hand as he left their house that evening, captured by their doorbell camera.
The investigation, one of Essex Police’s most tangled, kicked into gear after the fentanyl discovery. Initially, three people were arrested, but the spotlight zeroed in on D’Wit. By July 6, 2023, he was in custody, nabbed at his workplace in Colchester. The charges piled up: double murder, tampering with the Baxters’ will, even stealing Carol’s jewelry. In court, prosecutors laid bare his plan. D’Wit had forged a will, positioning himself to seize control of Cazsplash. He’d created fake personas, sending messages to Carol to keep up the doctor ruse. When grilled on the stand, his story crumbled—texts between his invented characters and Stephen proved the husband wasn’t in on the scam.
On March 26, 2024, D’Wit, then 35, was convicted of both murders. A judge handed him a life sentence, with a minimum of 37 years behind bars. The trial exposed a calculated betrayal, one that left Ellena, who found her parents’ bodies, and the rest of the Baxter family reeling. The case gripped the nation, spawning an ITV documentary, aired April 28 and 29, 2025, that detailed the police work, from Detective Inspector Lydia George’s team to the forensic breakthroughs that nailed D’Wit.
Carol and Stephen Baxter were killed in their home on April 7, 2023, by fentanyl poisoning. Luke D’Wit, their trusted IT worker, was found guilty of their murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. The investigation confirmed he altered their will and monitored their deaths via hidden cameras.