A 46-year-old man, identified as Thomas Nutt, who killed his wife on their wedding night and stuffed her body into a suitcase, has been handed a life sentence.
Nutt killed his wife, Dawn Walker, 52, hours after thier wedding on October 27, 2021.
He was said to have broken her leg so he could fit her corpse into the suitcase, which he tossed over a fence and hid in bushes close to their home in Lightcliffe, near Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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Nutt then phoned the police on October 31st, claiming his wife had gone missing that morning from their home.
However, her remains were found four days later.
Nutt was on Thursday, August 19, sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years, less 289 days he has spent on remand, .
Sentencing, his Honour Judge Johnathan Rose told Nutt that;
“The impact of the sudden and violent death at a time which should have been filled with happiness will no doubt have an effect on those that knew her. The victim impact statements lay bare how this has been for them.
“Dawn Walker died because you are a bully, used to getting your own way with women, used to controlling and manipulating women and used to using your considerable size advantage to inflict violence on women if you considered it necessary to do so.”
He went on to explain why he believed the murder took place on the night of their wedding.
“I am quite sure that is the night you killed her. She didn’t answer calls from Kiera on morning of 28th. It was said she had lost her phone in the pub. There was no way of knowing whether that was true or whether you disposed of the phone.
“I am satisfied the texts sent to Kiera at 1am were sent by you. Kiera said the text was not in the language or style of her mother and of your admission you text her pretending to be Dawn on 31st October. Malcolm Crawshaw said at 11pm that evening he heard noises, bumps and thumps. He heard no voices. This went on for about an hour before there was quiet for the rest of the night.” He said.
Judge Rose outlined the lengths Nutt went to to cover his tracks, including resisting pressure to ring the police at first and trying to hide the tracks left by the case he dragged her body out in.
He added: “It remains a mystery why you killed this woman who you had hours earlier took as your wife.”
Dawn had previously been to the police over an assault she suffered at Nutt’s hands but later tried to retract her statements, which Judge Rose told Nutt was “evidence of your control of a woman, even after you had used violence towards you and even after Kimberley Allcock warned her, a warning she tragically chose to ignore.”
Kimberley Allcock, who is a former partner of Thomas Nutt, had previously told The Mirror how Nutt is an evil woman hater who nearly killed her too and of how she tried to warn Dawn.
Kimberley Allcock bravely tried to warn Dawn Walker after Dawn contacted her on Facebook asking why she had taken a restraining order against him.
Kimberley, 41, explained about Nutt’s brutal rages and sent photos of her injuries from a savage beating.
Dawn, 52, told Kimberley that Nutt “scared the hell out of her” but tragically, she could not persuade her to leave him. The judge referenced Nutt’s abuse towards Kimberley during the trial.
Dawn’s daughter Kiera Lee told jurors her mum had a feeling “something bad” would happen in the lead-up to her wedding and a neighbour said Dawn had messaged asking if she should “run.”
In the trial at Bradford Crown Court, Nutt admitted to killing his wife by pleading guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. However, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty after a few hours of deliberation.
The judge made a small reduction to Nutt’s sentence because he pled guilty to manslaughter.
Dawn’s family cheered as the verdict was returned.
