An IT worker who murdered a couple with fentanyl in a dastardly game of “torture and drugging” has seen one of the victims jailed for at least 37 years.

Luke DeWitt found guilty Killed Stephen Baxter, 61, and his wife Carol, 64, and rewrote their wills to take over their bath mats and bathroom company.

The 34-year-old worked for the couple and is said to have described himself as “almost like a son to them”.

Mr and Mrs Baxter were discovered by their daughter Ellie at their Mersey home. Essex Easter Sunday last year.

DeWitt arrived soon after, describing himself to the 999 operator as their “friend” and giving false information, while Ellie’s distress could be heard in the background.

Fentanyl – an extremely powerful synthetic drug Opioids A substance about 100 times more powerful than morphine was found in their systems.

Devitt denied murder and was convicted unanimously by jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court after a trial that lasted more than a month.

He created a library of fake personas to manipulate them – posing as a doctor from Florida and a member of a fake support group for Hashimoto’s thyroid disease, which Mrs. Baxter suffers from.

Prosecutors said a total of seven fake personas were created and that DeWitt had drugged Mrs. Baxter over a period of time to make it appear she was suffering from dementia or a stroke.

Tracy Ayling KC said the pain he caused her was to satisfy his own needs and that DeWitt had previously tried to harm Mrs Baxter by giving her a pill with a tack inside .

Prosecutors said DeWitt forged a will on his phone the day after the Baxters were found dead, making him a director of Baxter’s company Cazsplash.

The couple’s daughter has made it clear that her parents thought DeWitt was “weird, but weird.”

She said he first got into their shower mat business around 2012 or 2013 to “help build the website” and later came to their home “every day.”

Reading her victim impact statement at Chelmsford Crown Court, she said DeWitt had “lied his way into our lives”.

She described her parents’ killer as an “extremely controlling man who came into our lives over a decade ago and orchestrated and thoroughly planned my parents’ deaths.”

Ms Baxter added: “They just thought he was lonely, especially after Luke’s father died.

“They took him under their wing and let him join.”

Describing the moment she found out her parents had died, she said: “I never knew emotional pain could take such a physical toll.

“It was like my insides were on fire. I screamed.”

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In a statement released by Essex Police, their son Harry said: “When she was acting strangely I looked back at the video of her and saw him giggling in the background and I knew he was responsible for this. Suffering man, as we all do, I feel very sad.” The dolls in his dollhouse were victims of his manipulation.

“Our lives will forever be pierced by the gravity of his actions.”

Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby said DeWitt was “without a doubt one of the most dangerous individuals I have ever encountered in my policing career”.

He added: “I have absolutely no doubt that had he not been caught he would have gone on to commit further murders.”