A man who stabbed his 19-year-old girlfriend to death in a “brutal and cowardly attack” after being angered by her decision to return home to Canada has been handed a life sentence.
Jack Sepple, 23, killed Ashley Wadsworth at the one-bedroom flat they shared in Chelmsford, Essex, on 1 February.
The judge, Mr Justice Murray, told Chelmsford crown court Sepple “gratuitously inflicted some 90 wounds on her body”.
He said the pair met online when Wadsworth was 12 and Sepple was about 15 and they had a long-distance relationship, adding that Sepple had relationships with other women during this time.
The judge said the victim travelled to the UK on a six-month tourist visa while on a gap year shortly before Christmas in 2021.
Murray added that when the killing happened, Wadsworth was soon to return to Canada and Sepple faced “imminent loss of control over her”. He said that a week before her death, Wadsworth had “indicated to her mother that things were not going well and she wanted to return to Canada”.
Murray sentenced Sepple to a life prison sentence with a minimum term of 23 years and six months, which he must serve before he can be considered for parole.
The judge told the defendant: “You are a dangerous individual,” adding that the attack was “brutal and cowardly”.
Sepple admitted his girlfriend’s murder at an earlier hearing and showed no reaction as he was sentenced on Monday. Simon Spence KC, prosecuting, said that Sepple had murdered Wadsworth after being “angered by her decision to return prematurely to her home country of Canada”.
Spence said: “He strangled and repeatedly stabbed Ashley and left her in the bed that they shared while he went about his daily business”.
When police forced entry to the property they found Sepple on a FaceTime call to his sister “as he showed her the body”, Spence said.
The barrister said that earlier on the day Wadsworth died, a neighbour heard a female scream. The neighbour said Wadsworth came to her and told her that Sepple “had beaten her up and thrown the kitten against the wall”.
The judge said that Wadsworth was “hysterical” and said that Sepple was going to kill her. Sepple apologised to Wadsworth and was “calm” when the neighbour spoke to him, Spence said.
The neighbour subsequently “went for a medical appointment and left at 9.30am”.
Police forced entry at 4.13pm after friends raised concerns for Wadsworth’s safety.
The court heard Sepple told police: “I went psychotic, I’m sorry,” adding: “I strangled her and stabbed her.”
Spence said that Sepple had “filmed himself on his mobile phone covered in Ashley’s blood apologising for what he had done – Ashley’s lifeless body was visible in the video”, with the footage recorded at about 12.45pm.
Christopher Paxton KC, mitigating, said the murder happened amid “a breakdown of the relationship”.
The court hearing was scheduled in the afternoon to allow Wadsworth’s family members in Canada to follow proceedings online. Her parents flew to England to attend the court in person.
The victim, originally from Vernon, British Columbia, was described in a tribute from her family as a “kind” and “beautiful” woman.
They said she had found faith with the Mormon church and had been accepted at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia.
Her mother, Christy Gendron, said in her victim impact statement that she “wasn’t too happy” about her daughter travelling to meet Sepple “but she was an adult so I couldn’t stop her”.
“Ashley’s passion and love for Jack would ultimately cost her her life,” she said. “She tried to better him and even introduce him to religion.”
She added: “Justice today can prevent him from harming another woman or putting another family through this.”
