Mersea couple trusted murder suspect 'completely' court hears

Luke D’Wit denies the murders of Stephen and Carol Baxter in their Mersea home. 

A statement made by Sarah Wix, who worked alongside Mr Baxter at the engineering firm JLL UK, was read to the jury on day six of the trial at Chelmsford Crown Court. 

Follow live coverage from day six of the trial here. 

In the statement she described Mr and Mrs Baxter as having a "perfect" relationship. 

The statement, read out by prosecuting barrister Alex Stein, said: “[Stephen] was my line manager at JLL UK – he was extremely hardworking.

“He was dedicated to family and his wife, Carol, who he said was his driving force.

Questioned - police spoke to D'Wit on the day the Baxters were found dead at their home in Mersea (Image: Essex Police)

“Carol had a wicked sense of humour and I warmed to her very quickly - she would say [Stephen] was working too hard.

“Stephen and Carol’s relationship is what I would consider the perfect example of what one should be.”

The statement also added how D’Wit’s involvement in the Cazsplash business, which was run by Mrs Baxter, had “a direct effect” on its growth.

It continued: “I know they had help from a man called Luke D’Wit - it had a direct effect on how the business grew.

“They went from a room to a lodge to a warehouse where the rugs were shipped by the pallet.

“They trusted him completely and thought the business was in good hands with him.

“He took Carol swimming and cared for her – both of them were fond of him.”

D’Wit, of Churchfields, West Mersea, denies murdering the Baxters and has been appearing in court in a wheelchair.

Trial - the trial is taking place at Chelmsford Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

The court also heard on Thursday how D’Wit, 34, had installed a virtual SIM card on his phone which would allow him to use a second number on an Android device.

Giving evidence, Detective Inspector Reuben Brame of Essex Police’s major crime team told the court about a Numero e-SIM card found inside one of D’Wit’s phones.

He said: “[A Numero e-SIM] a virtual SIM card which enables you to buy a telephone number from over 80 different countries across the world, and allows you to use that phone number for that country to make calls and texts as you would do normally with a standard SIM using the app on your device.”

The trial continues.