Husband who stuffed dead wife in suitcase says he 'didn't intend to kill her'

Thomas Nutt, of Lightcliffe, near Brighouse, West Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to homicide during an appearance at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday morning.

The 45-year-old scrap man appeared before the court via video link from HM Prison Leeds, where he remains in custody, to plead no contest to the murder charge. He wore a grey round-necked sweatshirt and spoke from a booth in the prison.

He was arrested following the discovery of his wife's body stuffed in a suitcase next to a children's playground on Oct. 31. He was brought in for questioning as a prime suspect and eventually found guilty of killing his new wife, Dawn Walker, just days after they got married on Oct. 27. His defence counsel Abigail Langford told the court that Nutt "accepts killing the deceased."

"The issue in the case will be that he didn't intend to kill her or cause her really serious harm. He accepts unlawfully killing his wife," she said, adding that the accused has agreed to undergo full psychiatric evaluation because of the circumstances surrounding the case.

The defendant and his legal counsel did not divulge further details about the crime. But according to the Daily Mail, Nutt will have to face a seven-day hearing on July 25 next year, during which time leading counsel Stephen Wood QC will represent him.

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell QC, said he will appear before court via video link again on Feb. 10 for a trial preparation hearing, when he will enter a plea deal to the murder charge. Until then, Judge Mansell ordered for him to remain in jail pending a bail application.

Dad-of-two Nutt married Walker in a civil ceremony at a registry office in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Close friends and family who were guests at the intimate wedding expressed their grief and disbelief at the turn of events. They mentioned that the couple "seemed so happy" on their wedding day and that everyone had fun. So no one would have expected the tragedy to happen. According to findings, the deceased appeared to have been strangled before her dead body was stashed inside the suitcase.