A man who murdered his wife on their wedding night and placed her body in a suitcase was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 21 years today.
Dawn Walker’s body was discovered in a field near Lightcliffe, West Yorkshire, four days after her wedding to Thomas Nutt on October 27, 2017.
Nutt, 46, murdered Ms. Walker hours after their wedding, concealing her body in a closet and burying it in bushes behind their home.
Nutt, who was convicted of murder after a trial earlier this month, was sentenced this morning at Bradford Crown Court.
Prior to this, jurors were informed that Nutt, who did not testify during the trial, agreed to the manslaughter of his wife on the grounds that he “did not mean to inflict her genuinely substantial damage at the time he murdered her.”
After three hours of deliberation, a jury convicted him guilty of murder on Wednesday of last week. The courtroom erupted in applause once the verdict was announced. At the beginning of the trial, prosecutor Alistair MacDonald QC told the jury, “It is often believed that a person’s wedding day and the period immediately after is one of the happiest days of their lives.”
He stated that this was not the case for Ms. Walker because her corpse was discovered four days after her wedding put into a suitcase and thrown in a field behind the defendant’s residence.
Mr. MacDonald told the court that on October 31, Nutt called the police to report that his wife had vanished after leaving their house in Shirley Grove, Lightcliffe, near Halifax, that morning, and he seemed to begin a search.
The prosecution stated that the ‘hard and harsh fact’ was that the defendant ‘knew quite well that her lifeless corpse was in a closet in the marital residence’
The jury was shown CCTV footage showed Nutt dragging a huge bag out of the rear of his residence and into nearby bushes just as a police officer arrived to investigate the defendant’s missing person complaint.
Mr. MacDonald said that Nutt turned himself in to a police station and told detectives he and Ms. Walker had been on a two-day caravan honeymoon in Skegness.
The prosecutor stated that the defendant informed police, “We returned and she has bipolar disorder and is miserable; she wanted a divorce.”
She previously incarcerated me, claiming I attempted to rape and abuse her. She stated she would do it again. She began screaming, so I struck her in the face and wrapped my arm around her neck.
Mr. MacDonald stated that according to the prosecution, Nutt travelled to Skegness alone after killing his wife on their wedding night or the day after and leaving her body in the home.
The prosecutor alleged that Nutt returned to play out the “horrific charade” of informing her daughter that she was gone and conducting a search.
CCTV footage was provided to the jury of the defendant and Ms. Walker’s arrival at the Prince Albert bar in Brighouse for their reception following their wedding at Brighouse Register Office.
Mr. MacDonald stated that witnesses detailed how Nutt and Ms. Walker had a “troubled” relationship despite being together for a number of years.
A neighbor characterized Ms. Walker, who has three kids, as “chirpy and active,” according to him.
This neighbor, the attorney noted, reported seeing her in 2020 with a “huge” black eye and facial injuries.
According to the prosecutor, this neighbor recalls that the defendant was put to prison following the discovery of these injuries, but that the pair resumed living together once he was freed.
He stated, “She (the neighbor) recalls that Dawn and the defendant argued frequently during this time period; one moment they were in love and the next they were bickering.”
She had never seen the defendant physically assault Dawn, but she had heard Dawn yelling, “Tommo, get off me” during an argument that emanated from the residence.
Mr. MacDonald stated that another neighbor reported going to the residence two months before the wedding because he “had never heard a lady scream that loudly before.”
According to him, Nutt informed the neighbor that Ms. Walker was suffering from an asthma attack, but she yelled, “Don’t believe him, he’s lying, he’s trying to kill me!”
The prosecution stated that an examination of Ms. Walker’s corpse revealed that she had sustained extensive neck injuries, indicating that “forceful pressure was applied to her neck.”