The Essex Millionaire Murders - ITV review

Six years ago, I visited the pleasant Essex island of Mersea and I can well imagine that it's a place that would appeal to a couple looking to wind down towards retirement. That seems to have been the thinking of Carol and Stephen Baxter, a wealthy couple with two children who relocated there some years ago. But the idyll turned into a nightmare, which this week has been the subject of a very interesting new two-part ITV documentary, The Essex Millionaire Murders.

It's a catchpenny title for a documentary that is a cut above the normal television true crime fare. The Baxters, in their sixties, were discovered at their home in Mersea by their daughter Ellena; an utterly horrific experience. They were in their armchairs, and both were dead. One possible cause of death, carbon monoxide poisoning, was quickly ruled out. And Essex police soon became suspicious.

The discovery of a strange document - not a legally valid will - set the investigation in a new direction. This purported to suggest that Carol's business should, in effect, be run by a neighbour, a youngish man called Luke d'Wit. Luke had started helping Carol with IT issues and had become increasingly important in the business. But he was also regarded as a caring friend. He was very popular in the local community and one can understand why the Baxters trusted him implicitly. Why they were quite so trusting of a mysterious American doctor whom Carol encountered online when in search of health advise is less clear. But it's easy to be wise from afar; I never forget that one of the smartest and most cynical of my friends was once conned out of £20,000 by a scammer; it's depressingly easily done. It's plain that the Baxters were casting about desperately for answers, and although they seem to have been intelligent as well as likeable, their vulnerability made them fairly easy prey.

The discovery of fentanyl in both bodies transformed the inquiry into a murder hunt. Ellena and Luke were both arrested, but it soon became clear that Ellena (who was the main interviewee in the programme) was innocent. Indeed, she was yet another victim of cruel manipulation. The documentary does a good job of charting a remarkable investigation at the same time as conveying the poignancy of the case. The Baxters' deaths were utterly, heartbreakingly tragic.

As for the culprit, his motivations are intriguing in the extreme, and not at all easy to understand. The judge said that this wasn't a sadistic crime, although this seems like a rather narrow interpretation of 'sadistic'. It wasn't all about money, either, although I imagine that money played a part in his thinking. (One remembers that Harold Shipman was only exposed after he forged a will.) I'd have liked to know more about the murderer's background and also about the Baxters' history and the nature of life on Mersea. At present, however, there are ongoing inquiries into other matters where he may be able to help the police with their enquiries, so this limits the scope for speculation. But I think the programme makers did well to avoid prurience and perhaps this sad story will make others more cautious about people whom they befriend online.