A British man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his 19-year-old Canadian girlfriend, who moved to England after meeting him online.
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Essex Police said that Jack Sepple, 23, "was handed a life sentence with a minimum of 23-and-a-half years in prison," after pleading guilty to the murder of Ashley Wadsworth.
Wadsworth is from Vernon, B.C., and had gone to the U.K. in November 2021 to be with her boyfriend. She had been there for just under three months when she was stabbed on February 1, 2022, in Sepple's home.
Police said that earlier in the day Wadsworth had texted two of her friend, saying that she wanted to leave and wanted help. Although she asked them to come and get her, she later sent a follow-up text saying that everything was "sorted."
Still, her friends went to the property where Ashley was staying and called 999 (the U.K. emergency line) after not being let in. Officers arrived and "forced entry" into the property, and police added that "after making their way to the bedroom, they found Sepple on his mobile phone alongside Ashley's body."
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to police, Sepple "calmly" admitted there that he had "strangled and stabbed Ashley."
Officers also found a knife with blood on it at the property.
"A post mortem found Ashley had been stabbed more than 90 times on her body and with bruising on her neck consistent with strangulation," police added.
Sepple was sentenced to life in jail on October 10, at the Chelmsford Crown Court, where he pled guilty to murder last month.
Ashley Wadsworth at the gates of Buckingham Palace. Right: Ashley Wadsworth at Tower Bridge.
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