Crawley Down murders: Daniel Appleton guilty of killing women

Daniel Appleton, 38, dragged his wife Amy out of their home in Hazel Way, Crawley Down, near Crawley.

When neighbour Sandy Seagrave, 76, tried to intervene, the naked car mechanic beat her to death with her walking stick.

He then ranted that he was God before using the same metal pole to bludgeon his 32-year-old wife in the monstrous attack last Christmas.

Neighbours described the horrific scene, saying he looked like the “Incredible Hulk” who was “on another planet”.

At Hove Crown Court yesterday he was found guilty of the murder of both women after a trial lasting more than a month.

Appleton had admitted causing their deaths, but denied murder.

He claimed he had suffered a “psychotic” episode for which he could not be blamed and spoke of his stress.

Police detectives found Appleton, who has no previous history of crime or violence, inside his home in a pool of his own blood.

He had sliced himself at least five times with a knife to his head, neck, chest and legs.

But Nicholas Corsellis QC, prosecuting, told the court how Appleton was “determined” and could have been high on synthetic drugs at the time.

The jury had to decide if Appleton’s mental state was because of a psychotic episode or because he had taken hallucinatory drugs.

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Jurors were told Appleton had experimented with magic mushrooms when he was younger and had searched online about the effects.

He may have taken 25I-NBOMe, a powerful hallucinogenic drug.

Mr Corsellis said: “The defendant accepts that he was responsible. His actions led to the death of his wife and a passerby who he had never met before.

“This is not a case of what happened, who did it, but a question of why and the lead up to.”

The court heard how he dragged Amy out of their home and beat her to death on the driveway.

He killed their elderly neighbour Mrs Seagrave by beating her head with her own walking stick when she confronted him.

Passing dog walker Janet Spragg said Appleton, at that point clad only in boxer shorts, had made a nightmarish “victory speech” where he said: “You think I’m a f***ing nutter. I’ll show you.”

Ms Spragg said the killing was “senseless” and described the scene, saying: “It was horrific.”

Witness Susan Kipps said she saw Appleton pacing naked on the driveway. She told police: “He seemed very agitated and angry.

“He was sort of puffed up and behaving totally differently. His eyes weren’t right.

“It was as though he had turned into the Incredible Hulk. He looked like he was on another planet, like he had lost the plot. He looked big, bold and scary.”

Gary Wigzell was one of the first people to discover Amy’s body.

He was trying to rouse the popular school teacher when Appleton emerged naked from the house.

Mr Wigzell said: “He took one step closer and leant over me and said, ‘I know I’ve killed my wife and I know I’m going to prison’.”

Sussex Police Sergeant Christopher Brakell described finding Appleton in a pool of blood in the kitchen.

Sgt Brakell said: “I thought he was going to die. I’ve never seen so much blood in my life.

“What I found quite strange was the living room was quite normal, Christmas tree and presents.

“This was just a quaint address, ready for Christmas. It surprised me to see such normality around such chaos.”

Appleton was a partner in a successful specialist garage near his Sussex home.

The former businessmen owned two houses and four Audis including two classic cars.

He claimed to have been inadvertently exposed to a prisoner smoking LSD while he was held on remand.

Appleton denied taking any drugs and told the jury his mental health started to collapse in the days leading up to his brutal assaults.

He showed no emotion as the jury foreman delivered the guilty verdicts.

During the verdict hung his head and took several deep breaths before being taken down.

His Honour Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC adjourned the hearing. He is expected to sentence Appleton at the end of January.