A double murderer, convicted today of the “brutal and frenzied” killing of a mother-of-three he met hours earlier, has been jailed for life.
David Baxendale, 40, (pictured top) had already stabbed a friend to death years earlier during an alcohol and drug-fueled attack and was free just over a year when he murdered 38 year-old Sarah Thomas (pic. bottom).
After fatally stabbing her in the throat at her Nutfield, Surrey flat on May 10, last year Baxendale fled to the Costa del Sol via a Portsmouth to St. Malo ferry and was captured after a Crimestoppers appeal.
Baxendale, of Chequers Lane, Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey was arrested in Fuengirola, near Malaga on June 21, last year and was convicted by a Guildford Crown Court jury after a three-week trail.
"She was subjected to a brutal and frenzied attack and was stabbed and struck repeatedly," prosecutor Mr. Richard Jory told the court. "The fatal wound was to the neck, severing the carotid artery.
"The prosecution say it was this defendant, who had just met her that same day, who inflicted these injuries and caused her death."
Miss Thomas had returned to her flat in The Spinning Wheel, High Street in a taxi with Baxendale after they had met through friends.
Her worried "on-off" boyfriend found her bloodstained body in the flat at 5:30pm and raised the alarm.
Meanwhile, Baxendale had fled the scene on foot, dumping the murder weapon, which contained traces of his and the victim's blood at the foot of a tree, the jury were told.
He also dashed across the busy M23 motorway in his desperation to escape. "He was narrowly missed by a number of vehicles," said Mr. Jory.
Baxendale also dumped his jacket, stained with his and the victim's blood, in woods and dumped more clothing, including bloodstained trainers near his mother's home.
He was circulated as wanted by Crimestoppers and identified in a nightclub and arrested at 3am.
The court heard he had a history of violence involving knives – receiving 11 years in Spain in 2001 – after stabbing an acquaintance 14 times.
He was deported back to the UK in June 2008, but was released from prison nine months later.
Just five days before murdering Sarah, Baxendale threatened to kill another woman he met while attending probation requirements and who had stopped returning his calls.
Detective Chief Inspector Steve Hayes, who led the investigation, said: “This was a truly tragic case.
“Sarah Thomas was the victim of a sustained and savage attack in her own home at the hands of a man she had only just met that afternoon.
“The number of injuries she suffered and the ferocity used was truly shocking.
“David Baxendale already had a history of offences involving knives spanning the last 20 years, including a previous conviction for murder.
“He is clearly an extremely dangerous and callous individual whose propensity for violence knows no bounds.
“He has not shown a shred of remorse for this horrific crime and instead tried to flee the country in a bid to evade capture.
“Our thoughts and sympathies remain today with the family and friends of Sarah Thomas, particularly her two eldest sons, and I hope today has brought them some justice and closure for what happened to her.”
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