Detectives who investigated whether double murderer Luke D’Wit could be charged with further killings have closed their review without bringing any new charges, the BBC has learned.
D’Wit, who was convicted of poisoning two people with fentanyl, had been described by investigators as a potential serial killer due to the nature of his crimes and the suspicion that his victims may not have been limited to those he was prosecuted for.
The review, carried out by detectives looking into whether additional charges could be brought, has now been quietly wound down. No further prosecutions will follow.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is around 100 times stronger than morphine. It has been at the centre of a devastating drug crisis in the United States for years, but its presence in England has been growing, raising serious concerns among health officials and law enforcement alike. The drug can be lethal in tiny doses, making it particularly dangerous and difficult to detect.
D’Wit was found guilty of murdering his flatmate John Wohlfahrt and his uncle Eric Wohlfahrt by spiking their drinks with fentanyl. The case shocked the country, not least because of the cold and calculated way the killings were carried out. Prosecutors described it as a deeply sinister case involving a man who used a near-invisible poison to take lives.
Following the conviction, police began looking more closely at whether D’Wit could be linked to other suspicious deaths. The term serial killer was used internally as detectives assessed the possibility that the two murders they had secured convictions for were not the full picture.
However, after completing their review, officers have concluded there is insufficient evidence to pursue further charges. The decision means D’Wit will not face any additional prosecutions beyond those already secured.
The closure of the review is likely to raise questions about whether all avenues were properly explored, particularly given the difficulty of detecting fentanyl in post-mortem examinations. Because the drug breaks down quickly in the body, it can be missed entirely unless specifically tested for, meaning historical deaths may never be fully investigated.
Campaigners and legal experts have previously warned that fentanyl’s near-undetectable nature makes it a uniquely dangerous tool for anyone intending to cause harm, and that the true scale of fentanyl-related deaths in England could be significantly underreported.
D’Wit is currently serving a life sentence for the two murders. The decision not to bring further charges does not affect that sentence, but it does draw a line under a review that many had hoped would bring greater clarity to a deeply troubling case.