A farmer has been sentenced to a minimum of 35 years in prison for the brutal murder and dismemberment of a man whose body he then concealed in a concrete-filled barrel.
Christopher Wright, 73, who was formerly a butcher, was convicted last month of killing Richard Dyson, 55, who vanished in 2019.
Richard Dyson, who had been living in his car on Wright’s land in Hoyland, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was reported missing by his daughter.
What began as a missing person’s inquiry escalated into a murder investigation, culminating last year in the discovery of Mr Dyson’s body, hidden within a barrel on a trailer.
Mr Dyson performed odd jobs for Wright, an antique firearms collector, but the pair fell out after Wright suspected him of theft.
Wright shot Mr Dyson in the arm and chest. Over the subsequent days, he dismembered the body, purchased cement from a builder’s merchant, and then encased the remains within a blue barrel.
Wright then placed the barrel onto a trailer and persuaded an innocent, unwitting neighbour to store the vehicle. Wright’s childhood friend, Karl Schwalbe, 72, was also convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for his role in concealing the crime, receiving a three-year prison sentence.
Sentencing Wright at Sheffield Crown Court, Mr Justice Cotter stated that Wright would serve a life sentence with a minimum term of 35 years, less time spent on remand, meaning he is likely to die in prison.
The judge remarked on Wright’s actions: "You had worked as a butcher and were skilled enough to do such a terrible thing, something few ordinary people would have the stomach for."
In her victim impact statement, Mr Dyson’s daughter, Bethany Dainty, spoke of the prolonged agony of not knowing her father’s fate. She said: "I couldn’t grieve because I did not know the truth."
Detectives recorded Wright and Schwalbe discussing CCTV footage in a police car park after an interview. Furthermore, during a search of his property, Wright was filmed in a hotel praying for divine absolution and hoping his weapons would not be discovered.
Christopher Dunn, representing Schwalbe, described his client’s failure to inform the police as "an error of Biblical proportions".
Wright was convicted of murder, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial, and several firearms offences.
