The Latex Devil Next Door | The Case of Luke Fawcett

on easter weekend of 2020 the sudden silence of an elderly woman concerned family and when a nearby relative traveled over to check in on her her disappearance would extend to two with no explanation and a great deal of worry the family grouped together to figure out what was going on and what they discovered would forever haunt their lives welcome back to coffeehouse crime my name is adrian and today we're looking at the case of luke fawcett charismatic young and a psychologist luke was a man who most people would trust from the outset but behind his mask lay a cold-hearted delusional killer just to let you know i post solved unsolved in strange cases up to twice a week here so if that sounds like a kind of thing please consider subscribing to coffee house crime so let's get into the thick of it pull up a seat grab a coffee and sit back this is the case of luke fawcett [Music] unbeatable weather jaw-dropping beaches and a fantastic work-life culture of course i'm talking about australia although on a slight decline in recent years australia is still very high on the list when it comes to the world's most favorable countries to immigrate to and there's good reason for it with this assortment of modernized cities all positioned in a warm and rewarding climate an excellent healthcare system and a vibrant outdoor lifestyle australia has most of what people are looking for one of the downsides or possible upsides is the country's remoteness to the rest of the world in fact should you live in western australia's capital of perth you would have to travel 1300 miles to reach its neighboring city adelaide but that doesn't stop over 1.4 million residents calling perth home and one of those living in the city of light was marie collins in the year of 2020 marie was at the very beginning of her golden years and aged 66 she was on the venerable side of adulthood looking forward to slowing down into a more peaceful lifestyle she came from a family of six siblings and next to her brother wayne johnson they were the youngest of the bunch marie was a committed christian who was an active member of the local church community and participated in many church activities and being the sort of person she is she always helped anyone in need she also had a knack for fashion and home life and worked part-time in a clothing shop nearby we all grow into adulthood with varying levels of wanderlust some of us wish to explore every avenue of the world where some simply wish to settle and for marie it was very much the latter by the time she was in her mid-20s murray had saved up enough money to afford an apartment in washington gardens located on leonard street southeast of perth city centre this wouldn't only be her first home but her forever home too as four decades later she still lived here and i can see why a top floor apartment not only near the city but overlooking it too four bedrooms two bathrooms and impeccable views she had played the property market well murray experienced many moments in these four walls birthdays parties dates marriage and sadly even death her husband dying young in the year 2001 and without any children she remained a one-woman household many things changed over the course of marie's adulthood but the one thing that did not was her home and that's probably why she looked after it so carefully friends always pointed out how warm cozy and welcoming the place was and in the year 2020 marie was having more renovations done too with no husband or children in the picture she formed a rich social life with family and friends and of course with such a homely apartment she loved to host too considering her fine age she was also pretty good with mobile phones and computers and should message her friends pretty much every day which is why on the day before easter sunday it was rather unusual when she suddenly fell silent saturday the 11th of april 2020 started like any other weekend for marie waking up in the early morning she woke with coffee before slipping on her shoes and heading over to swanburn beach and shortly after that she stopped by her sister helen's home in mount claramont found just west of perth center marie returned home shortly after 1pm but after making her way through the front door she realized that she'd forgotten to give helen a spare key to the main gates of her apartment complex they too had recently completed renovations and in the process had changed the locks calling the landline bree told her sister that she'd give her a key the next time they met but after that phone call silence only the next morning did family begin to worry helen had put ham in the oven and around 10 am she asked marie if she was available for lunch but no response she texted again 20 minutes later still no reply at 11 30 helen tried to call her sister but again there was no answer not that she had much time to think after that as only two minutes later she received a message from her sister hi helen apologies for not taking your call i am feeling quite unwell god bless and happy easter helen replied with can i call you we have been worried in which murray replied with i have lost my voice unfortunately as i said i'm quite unwell thank you so much for your thoughts marie's initial silence was peculiar enough but what really concerned helen was the manner in which she was speaking this didn't sound like maria's hall worried for her sister's safety she decided to call her brother wayne both he and his 12 year old son lived only a few streets away from marie's apartment so maybe he could check in on her to make sure she's okay and after texting marie and not getting anything back he also became concerned he sent helen a message saying just texted marie no answer i'm leaving hj here and going up now and then suddenly nothing as soon as he reached her apartment wayne too was radio silent despite her best efforts in contacting marie and now wayne neither of them accepted her phone calls or replied to her text messages it was as if her top floor apartment on london street had suddenly become a void with all forms of communication in and out now impossible as the hours ticked by helen's concerns manifested into puzzlement and fear marie's silence was one hurdle to get the mind around but wayne knew helen was worried it made no sense for him to suddenly ignore her like this making several phone calls throughout the space of three hours she was finally at the end of her wits helen may need help getting through the front gate but she already had a spare key to her sister's apartment and so arming herself with a son-in-law she drove over to london street meeting marie's neighbor at the gate the trio realized that both helens and wayne's cars were on the property this wasn't good news they made their way to the 8th floor all curious to see what was happening behind number 35. approaching the front door silence hung heavy in the air and not one single sound could be heard from the apartment marie had lived here for over 40 years so why did the place suddenly feel so unwelcoming the familiar sound of metal pushed into the lock she turned the key before hearing a gentle click from the door and slowly helen pushed it open but before she could even set one foot into her sister's apartment her son-in-law and neighbor pulled her back peering in from the doorway they could see a large topple and sheet wrapped in yellow rope and behind it was the body of wayne johnson they closed the door ran downstairs and called the police the sudden discovery was shocking sickening and simply hard to take in although the silence now made sense nothing else did unfortunately it was obvious that these two were murdered but who in their right mind would do such a thing both marie and wayne were well loved in their communities police were very quick to arrive to the scene and after walking into the apartment they were able to confirm that both marie and wayne had been subjected to a very violent situation [Music] it's clear that a struggle had ensued throughout the property furniture was broken items scattered across the floor lemonade bottles and beer cans were discarded in multiple rooms and blood was found throughout the apartment among the carnage was a used taser a bread knife a large hunting knife and a letter opener marie had suffered 24 stab wounds and wayne had suffered 25 along with an additional 10 other sharp force injuries and whoever was responsible for this was no longer in the area detectives were quick to begin their investigations but where do you begin with a crime scene like this there were no signs of forced entry and being the penthouse to an eight-floor apartment it's rather unlikely that the killer entered through the windows so there were two options either the killer had a spare key or murray trusted them enough to allow them into the property and with newly fitted locks the former didn't seem likely investigating the background and whereabouts of marie's family and friends were going to take some time but at least for now detectives could make progress with those in close proximity but amongst the shocked neighbors and fruitless findings they managed to find one rather alarming clue while recording or license plates in the building's car park officers took the opportunity to peer through the windows on the off chance it provided any valuable information and on the dashboard of one of these vehicles was a receipt from a local bunnings hardware store transacted at 6 43 p.m on saturday the 11th of april these items have been purchased only one night prior from a bunnings warehouse in belmont and the items blue torpolin and yellow rope police were quick to run the car's plates through west australia's license database and soon after they found that the car belonged to a resident living here in washington gardens as a matter of fact he was marie's next door neighbor the name was luke fawcett and 27 years old at the time he was renting a one-bedroom flat across the hall from marie a quick dig through his police records didn't highlight anything significant a few driving offences and two minor convictions of possession of prohibited drugs but he had no violent history and arguably he was just a young reckless kid with divorced parents his mum entirely out of the picture and barely any friends while growing up he didn't have the best childhood but he made it work from the outside luke was a successful and welcoming individual finishing high school at the top of his class he moved on to study psychology at the university of western australia he worked part-time at a nightclub to get him through his degree and after graduating he moved on to become a disability support worker before becoming a psychologist in the mental health field moving in with his girlfriend in 2016 luke had been marie's neighbor for the last four years luke and marie had a normal neighborly relationship not necessarily friends but always there for each other and he'd been to her apartment several times before helping her move furniture reconnect her printer and change her facebook password at this point in his life and excluding a few minor offenses luke was a respectable young man who had climbed the ranks to become a psychologist and with a degree so attuned to mental health he was one that many people looked towards with trust and respect but as the year 2020 began several bad things happened and i'm not talking about coronavirus to begin with luke was diagnosed with both anxiety and depression he started regularly experiencing panic attacks and he found no motivation in his work and next but he actually quit his job which under normal circumstances would be fair enough but the reasoning behind this was slimy luke had falsely accused one of his colleagues with sexual misconduct and when these allegations were proven to be lies the board took this very seriously his provisional registration as a psychologist was therefore revoked things didn't get better after that by march his girlfriend had left him leaving luke absolutely devastated he started to drink alcohol and smoke weed daily with a failed job tarnished reputation failed relationship and crumbling mental health [ __ ] really had hit the fan for luke fawcett with no money or partner to lean on he was also facing eviction from his apartment and after this he began a worryingly dangerous cocktail of excessive alcohol cannabis and antidepressants as officers began to look into luke and the newly found receipt they learned that on this very day he'd checked himself into a local hospital and these injuries were for multiple lacerations and a dislocated shoulder surveillance footage showed him arriving shortly after 3pm so officers decided to pay him a little visit he explained that his injuries were from falling down the stairs while holding a steak knife nevertheless he agreed to provide officers with the dna sample detectives were already hard at work with the receipt and it didn't take them long to find what they were looking for at 6 43 pm on saturday the 11th of april the evening of murray's disappearance a surveillance camera at the local bunnings warehouse captured luke fawcett nonchalantly walking into the store before buying you guessed it yellow rope and blue torpoline he cautiously walked out afterward a neighbor had also come forward to highlight that earlier that day she'd noticed a stranger acting suspicious outside of her apartment he was pacing up and down crying feeling skeptical the neighbor took a picture and this stranger was luke and regretfully after dna samples were collected at the crime scene and compared those retrieved samples were found to match the dna of luke fawcett his blood was found all over the apartment mixed in with the blood of marie and wayne unfortunate to luke but this new evidence was a no-brainer to officers by the time this evidence surfaced luke had way too many connections to the crime scene and on the 13th of april 2020 he was officially arrested for the murder of marie collins and wayne johnson with the man now in custody officers had legal authority to enter his home and his car and what they found inside was both overwhelming and disturbing it turns out that luke had been planning murray's murder for quite some time in the month prior he'd bought himself two tasers and a pair of handcuffs and although this next piece of evidence isn't available to the public i wish it was but on march the 29th he recorded himself threatening the camera with a taser and knife while wearing a tight-fitting latex suit these threats were to severely hurt or kill this person if they didn't provide their bank details in this video he said we can do this the easy way or the hard way if it's the hard way you will be severely hurt and if you keep pushing me eventually i will kill police would also find notes in luke's car one detailing a checklist which included quiet shoes a baseball bat and cable ties the second list was named interrogation and included pepper spray to the eyes and potential locations luke claimed that the video was part of a home invasion role play for a couple online and the to-do lists were for a video game sure records show that on the 4th of april he purchased a shovel and data forensics indicate that he traveled 200 miles to east carob the very next day where he then dug a shallow grave in preparation they also found a shovel and a duffel bag nearby on april the 6th luke was spotted in bunning's warehouse purchasing topolon tape and rope and five days later it was time in the afternoon of saturday the 11th of april luke force attended marie's flat through trusted means and once inside he tased her before stabbing her over 20 times once she was dead he used her apartment as if it were his own he showered drank smoothies and beer and sent flirty messages to a woman he'd started talking to boasting that he just purchased a penthouse apartment while attempting to cover up the body luke realized he needed more rope and tarp he returned to bunnings late that evening resulting in the receipt found by officers drinking more beer and smoothies he then spent the night trying to access our bank accounts in the early morning he recorded perth's skyline from her bedroom window and when helen messaged marie's mobile phone he sent her emails through marie's computer luke was rather surprised to see wayne come through the front door a vicious fight ensued and although he was able to fracture luke's collarbone dislocate his shoulder and stab him four times the attack tragically ended in wayne's death leaving the apartment in even more disarray by 2 30 pm luca told his grandmother to ask for a lift to the hospital and while waiting for her to arrive a suspicious neighbor captured this photo while being treated he continued to flirt with his new crush he sent her text messages calling himself the sexiest patient ever and sending cringy [ __ ] like i wish you were here to kiss my booboo better [Music] with overwhelming amount of digital and forensic evidence luke would have been wise to plead guilty alas he claimed he was innocent according to him he walked into marie's apartment to find her dead on the floor and when wayne arrived he thought that luke had killed his sister luke did admit to killing wayne but only in self-defense after he attacked him needless to say no one was impressed with this story and in september of 2021 luke was officially found guilty for the murder of marie collins and guilty for the murder of wayne johnson as a result he was imposed to two life sentences with a minimum of 34 years before he's eligible for parole prosecutor justin whaley expressed that luke showed callus indifference of the highest order and a level of depravity that defies adequate description in a statement helen who had lost her sister and brother in the process said the empty seats at our table will always be constant reminders of the absence at family gatherings as a son has lost his dad and i with our siblings have lost our youngest sister and brother luke fawcett will be 61 years old before he is even considered for release a very messed up and senseless story i think this case hits harder knowing luke was a psychologist for someone you trust your own mental health with he certainly didn't have his own the motive for why he killed marie is still to this day not known either he still denies their murders and pleads his innocence the best we can guess is he had some form of sick fantasy that he wanted to play out and never really thought of the consequences that would follow afterward i do really hope that marie and wayne's family will find their strength and recover over time thank you so much for watching another video today by coffee house crime if you found this video interesting or you learned something new today then please remember to like the video and subscribe if you haven't yet and thank you to andrew from perth australia for suggesting this case as soon as i started reading the court documents i was hooked as always please share your thoughts in the comments section down below and i'll see you again real soon in the next video but until that moment arrives and especially right now look after each other goodbye you

Channel: Coffeehouse Crime

Views: 1,592,540

Keywords: coffeehouse crime

Id: HBQc8Yil1fI

Length: 19min 26sec (1166 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 10 2022