29 March 2023 , 10:42
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A man has been jailed for life after murdering his partner, and then hatching a sick plot to cover it up.
The body of 30-year-old Madison Wright was found in Wat Tyler Country Park in Pitsea, Essex, on July 30 last year, eight days after she was last seen.
Gary Bennett, 37, was sentenced to a minimum of 21 years in prison after being found guilty of murder following a trial at Basildon Crown Court.
Ms Wright worked as a cleaner and attended an appointment cleaning a client's house, where she was booked from 9am to 11am that day, prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC told jurors as she opened the case earlier this month.
A doorbell camera filmed her leaving the appointment and an automatic number plate recognition camera recorded her car travelling towards Bennett's address, the prosecutor said.
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Gary Bennett, 37, of Pitsea, was found guilty of murder on Tuesday (BPM MEDIA)Sentencing Bennett today, Judge Samantha Leigh described him as a "do as I say, do as I want" person, reports Essex Live.
She told him: "Previous convictions of domestic violence and clear evidence that when the jury verdict was returned you shouted at the jury ‘how dare you, there’s no evidence’ is the true character of a man who previously sat in the dock crying."
Judge Leigh said she was satisfied the allegations Madison had made about controlling behaviour by Bennett "were true".
She continued: “When there was that text exchange in the morning and when she was at work and the reality dawned on you...when you drove to her address that morning you realised that she wasn’t going to do what you wanted and was going to leave you.
"You couldn’t contain your rage and you killed her. You used her fingerprint to access her phone and bank account."
In text messages previously read to the court by the prosecutor, Ms Wright had told Bennett on the morning of July 22 "you're too controlling".
She also wrote: "I've not been happy for ages - we've had lots of chances to try to make it work but I just don't think it is."
Ms Ayling said Bennett, of Pitsea, missed an NHS appointment at 11.10am that day.
The court heard that Ms Wright was still in contact with her husband while she was in a relationship with Bennett.
Ms Ayling said that at 12.57pm on July 22 Ms Wright's phone sent a message to her husband to say that "some stuff has come up at my place that I need to sort out, sorry".
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She said: "It's the crown's case that he (Bennett) himself was in possession of Madison's phone and was setting this message up as a sort of alibi that she had gone somewhere and he was not responsible for her disappearance.
"It's the crown's case he (Bennett) had already killed her and was sending these text messages himself."
Essex Police said Bennett's DNA was discovered on a fence post found on top of Ms Wright's body.
The judge said she was satisfied that Bennett had strangled Madison.
Forensic tests of his phone showed he searched for information and news stories relating to Watt Tyler Country Park and the murder investigation.
Detectives spotted that the texts apparently sent by Ms Wright were so different from her usual style that they suspected they had been sent by Bennett.
In the hours after it is believed Ms Wright was murdered, police say Bennett had used an account on a dating website.
Judge Leigh described the case was "haunting", saying: "There are cases that come before the court that are the most serious kind. But every so often there are facts that shock and haunt the most experienced court, and this is one of them.
"What you did was unspeakable, you snuffed out the life of a woman you claimed was your world, all for her to have the courage to say she was leaving you.”
She praised the work of Essex Police investigators, saying they built a “fantastically solid” case against Bennettm adding that she was “very grateful” for how well put together the evidence was.
The judge also commended Ms Wright's family for their dignity throughout the trial.