Man who killed wife just DAYS after wedding and stuffed her in a suitcase found guilty of murder
Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised
WEST YORKSHIRE, UK: Thomas Nutt, 45, has been found guilty of killing his wife, Dawn Walker, 52, in West Yorkshire. A court heard that Nutt had killed Walker four days after their wedding on October 27, 2021, storing her body in a cupboard before stuffing it into a suitcase. Later, the body was dumped in the bushes behind their home.
Police stated to the jurors that Nutt did not give evidence in the initial period of the trial however admitted to the manslaughter of his wife. The culprit added he did not intend to cause her really serious harm when he killed her. During the trial, it was revealed that Walker's legs were harmed and her right leg was twisted. The body was bent over with her face towards the wheels of the suitcase. According to a Daily Mail report, the jury found him guilty of murder after three hours of inquiry.
ALSO READ
Bodies of mother and 8-year-old son found stuffed INSIDE COUCH days after they disappeared
Forensic pathologist Dr Kirsten Hope stated that she received Walker's body in a black wheeled suitcase. During the interrogation, Nutt claimed he attacked her because she told him she wanted a divorce. Further, Walker warned him of falsely accusing him of rape. In the beginning of the trial, prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC told jurors, "It is often said that someone's wedding day, and the period immediately following, is one of the happiest times of their life." Mac Donald added that this was not the case for Walker "because her body was found stuffed into a suitcase and dumped into some undergrowth in a field towards the back of this defendant's house four days after she was married". MacDonald told the court that Nutt informed the police on October 31, telling them his wife had gone missing after leaving their home in Shirley Grove. The prosecutor said, "He knew perfectly well that her body was lying dead in a cupboard at the marital home".
The prosecutors also displayed the CCTV footage of Nutt carrying a large suitcase out of his house to the nearby bushes just before the police arrived to investigate about the missing of Walker. Nutt and Walker had been on a two-day caravan honeymoon at Skegness before the murder. During the trial, Nutt said, "We came back and she has got bipolar and is depressed, said she wanted to get divorced. She put me in jail before, said I had tried raping and assaulting her. Said she was going to do it again. She started screaming and I have hit her in the face and put my arm round her neck."
However, the prosecutor claimed the culprit would have gone to Skegness alone. He might have killed his wife on their wedding night or the day after, and left her body in the house itself. The prosecutor termed Nutt's act of telling Walker's daughter she was missing and carrying out a search as a 'ghastly charade'. Mac Donald said though the couple was together for years, the duo had a troubled relationship.
One of the witnesses of the case, a neighbor revealed in 2020 she had seen Walker with a 'massive' black eye and cuts to her face. The prosecutor explained the witness had never seen the defendant assaulting her but she had heard arguing coming from the house and Dawn calling out: "Tommo, get off me". Another neighbor added that once when he was walking close to their home, he had never heard such screaming coming from a woman before. When asked, Nutt told the neighbor that Walker was having an asthma attack but that she shouted: 'Don't believe him, he's lying, he's trying to kill me.'
Nutt will be sentenced on August 19. Judge Jonathan Rose while concluding the hearing stated he would face a life sentence, with a minimum term to be set on that date. Detective Inspector Amanda Wimbles of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, who led the investigation, said: "We welcome the verdict of the jury today and our immediate thoughts are of course with Dawn's family who have shown such bravery and strength throughout the investigation and trial."