A former butcher who shot his victim, dismembered him, and hid the body in a concrete-filled barrel has been jailed for at least 35 years. Christopher Wright, 73, was convicted last month of murdering Richard Dyson, 55, who disappeared in 2019. The body was concealed for six years before being discovered.
Investigation and Discovery
Mr Dyson, who lived in his car on Wright’s land at Hoyland, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was reported missing by his daughter. The police missing person’s inquiry became a murder investigation, and last year officers found the concealed body in a barrel on a trailer.
Mr Dyson did odd jobs for the farmer, but the two fell out after Wright, an antique firearms collector, suspected him of stealing and selling possessions.
Details of the Crime
Wright shot him in the arm and chest and, over the following days, dismembered him, bought cement from a builder’s merchant, and concealed the body parts in a blue barrel. He then put the barrel in a trailer and persuaded an innocent and unwitting neighbour to store the vehicle.
Wright’s childhood friend Karl Schwalbe, 72, was convicted of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice after helping to conceal the crime. He was jailed for three years.
Sentencing and Impact
Mr Justice Cotter, sitting at Sheffield Crown Court, said Wright must serve life with a minimum term of 35 years less time on remand, and was likely to die in prison. Speaking of what Wright did to his victim, the judge said: ‘You had worked as a butcher and were skilled enough to do such a terrible thing, something few ordinary people would have the stomach for.’
In her victim’s statement, Mr Dyson’s daughter Bethany Dainty spoke of not knowing what had happened to her father for so long. She said: ‘I couldn’t grieve because I did not know the truth.’
Evidence and Aftermath
After they were questioned by detectives on one occasion, Wright and Schwalbe were recorded by cameras in a police car park discussing CCTV that officers had gathered. And when police were searching his property, Wright was filmed in a hotel praying for absolution from God and that his weapons would not be found.
Christopher Dunn, for Schwalbe, said it was ‘an error of Biblical proportions’ not to tell the police what happened. Wright was convicted of murder, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial as well as firearms offences.
The judge also praised the ‘excellent police teamwork’ that brought the two to justice. Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Knowles praised Mr Dyson’s loved ones and said the investigation had been ‘long, complex and emotionally draining’. He said: ‘Wright and Schwalbe knew what happened to Richard and even with the evidence against them, they continued to deny accountability, making Richard’s family endure a trial, listen to harrowing evidence and distressing testimonies. ‘The strength and dignity in confronting each moment of this process has been nothing short of extraordinary.’
