A COURT has heard how murder suspect Luke D’Wit “had a habit of popping up” at the house of the couple he is accused of poisoning.
The prosecution called more police witnesses to give evidence to the court on Friday, which was the seventh day of the trial.
D’Wit, 34, is facing two murder charges after Stephen and Carol Baxter were found dead at their home in Victory Road, West Mersea, on Easter Sunday last year.
A coroner later concluded Mrs Baxter’s provisional cause of death was combined fentanyl and promethazine toxicity with terminal bronchopneumonia, whilst Mr Baxter’s cause of death was cardiomegaly and alcoholic liver disease with fentanyl intoxication.
D’Wit is accused of poisoning the couple with lethal doses of fentanyl.
On Friday, the prosecution called Essex Police’s detective sergeant Jamie Stirland, crime scene investigator Shane Underwood, and analyst Cat Taylor to give evidence.
Mr Underwood told the court of 12 Fentanyl patches were found in a box of medication in the Baxters’ home, adding the patches stood out because they were loose in an otherwise neatly arranged box.
He said: "[The box] looked slightly out of place.
“The box itself was very strategically placed, but these were sitting right at the bottom.
“For me, it stood out slightly.
“[The patches] happened to be lying at the bottom of the box, flat.”
The case then moved onto a number of WhatsApp messages and emails which were exchanged between Stephen Baxter and Andrea Bowden, a persona the prosecution alleges was created and operated by D’Wit so he could manipulate the family.
Tracy Ayling KC, prosecuting, read the messages out to the court whilst police analyst Cat Taylor stood in the dock.
One message from Mr Baxter read: “[He was] playing silly mind games with Carol's business – we caught him out a few times.”
Another read: “He has a habit of popping up, going back to before Carol was ill.
"He is always asking what she is doing and where she is going - like he is always checking on us.
"When we change our mind, surprise surprise, the doorbell rings and it’s Luke.”
The trial continues.
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