Thomas Nutt, who murdered Dawn Walker in a sadistic manner, sentenced today.
After a protracted two-week trial, a jury at Bradford Crown Court last week found 45-year-old Nutt guilty of murder. Between their October 27 wedding day and Halloween, Nutt killed the grandmother, 52, who was living with them.
Dawn was murdered in their Shirley Grove, Lightcliffe, home before Nutt savagely placed her corpse in a suitcase in a field close to their house. Before turning himself in to police, he even put Halloween decorations up in their garden after reporting her missing and sent her family and friends on a wild goose chase.
During the trial, witnesses from the defendant’s family, friends, and neighbourhood were called. Dawn’s daughter Kiera Lee testified to jurors that her mother had a premonition that “something horrible” would occur in the days leading up to her wedding, and a neighbour said that Dawn had texted her asking whether she should “go.” The court heard that Nutt had previously assaulted an ex-partner who claimed to have spoken with Dawn, who claimed that Nutt “scared the hell” out of her.
He was facing a life sentence after being found guilty of murder last week, according to the Crown Prosecution. When Dawn met her death at the hands of the man she had just married, what should have been the happiest time in her life was instead characterised by absolute tragedy, according to Senior Crown Prosecutor Emma Covington of the CPS.
“Nutt first played the role of the distraught husband of a missing wife, and then concocted a web of lies to explain his actions. He is now facing a life sentence. We hope this will be of some comfort to Dawn’s family and friends. Our thoughts remain with them.”
