Published Date:
11 May 2009
GERMAN office worker David Heiss was convicted today of murdering student Matthew Pyke after he became infatuated with his girlfriend Joanna Witton. Here is a detailed timeline of how events unfolded and ultimately resulted in Mr Pyke's horrific death.
Summer 2005: Mr Pyke and Miss Witton meet on the predecessor to warscentral.com, a website called awbunker.com. At first they enjoy an "online" relationship, where they find out they have lots in common such as their A-levels. The relationship quickly blossoms and they meet up in York, close to Miss Witton's home in Selby, North Yorkshire. By Christmas they have met each other's parents.
September 2006: The couple decide to study together at Nottingham Trent University. Miss Witton studies environmental sciences but Mr Pyke, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, has to opt to study a foundation course in physics after he fails to get the necessary grades. They live apart in university halls. Mr Pyke eventually drops out of his physics course but the couple decide to live together in a flat above the Orange Tree Pub in the city centre the following year.
2007: Miss Witton comes across David Heiss on the awbunker.com website but the chat remains light-hearted. She does not know at this stage that Heiss is looking at her web-based journal from two years before when she ended an online relationship. He is also looking at her Facebook page. It is the beginning of an obsession which would eventually lead him to murder her boyfriend.
November 2007: The website awbunker.com is closed down and a new site is set up. It is called warscentral.com. Miss Witton and Mr Pyke are two of its principal administrators.
March 26, 2008: Miss Witton gets the first signs that Heiss, nicknamed Eagle the Lightning, is not who he first appeared to be. He sends her a message on MSN Messenger saying that he has developed a crush on her. He then asks that she does not show the message to her boyfriend.
May 3, 2008: Heiss sends Miss Witton a message in which professes his love for her. He writes: "I love you Jo, more than anything else, I really do. I know I shouldn't, but I do. You are my first thought when I wake up and my last when I go to sleep."
June 21, 2008: Mr Pyke and Miss Witton return from a holiday in Devon to find 21-year-old Heiss outside their flat in North Sherwood Street, Nottingham. They try ringing round hotels but he ends up staying on the floor at the bottom of their bed. He spends the next few days with them before they successfully encourage him to visit friends in York.
July 31, 2008: Heiss drives over from his home in Limburg, near Frankfurt, to see Miss Witton. Again he is uninvited. But he has a car accident in Cambridgeshire. He is admitted to hospital but discharges himself and visits Nottingham by train. After being rejected again by Miss Witton he returns to Germany on the Eurostar three days later.
August 2008: Relations between the three become increasingly strained after Miss Witton finally blocks Heiss from the website. Other users also block the German national after being told that he is stalking the couple. He becomes increasingly desperate and decides to visit Nottingham again.
September 11, 2008: Heiss books flights on the internet back to Birmingham International, via Amsterdam.
September 18, 2008: Heiss catches the 17.15 flight from Frankfurt, landing at Birmingham International at 21.15, local time. He is caught on CCTV as he catches a train to Nottingham.
September 19, 2008: Prosecutors believe he arrived at the couple's flat at about 12.30am. He then camped out behind an air-conditioning unit until shortly before 7am when Miss Witton leaves for work. With a knife tucked into his waistband and wearing thick gardening gloves, he forces his way in to Mr Pyke's flat, stabbing him 86 times as the student helplessly looked for his mobile phone. Heiss then takes Mr Pyke's trainers and a baseball cap.
He leaves the flat shortly before 9am before boarding a flight back to Germany at 1.20pm. He has only been in the UK 16 hours. Miss Witton returns home at 6pm to find her 20-year-old boyfriend dead. She calls the police.
September 24, 2008: German police finally arrest Heiss at the house he shares with his grandmother. He had his blood-stained clothing stashed in a suitcase under his bed. In evidence he said he kept the clothing "for nostalgia".
Before his arrest he managed to post a message on Miss Witton's Facebook page. It read: "I will pray for you, Jo. You must be suffering unbelievable pains. I'm sorry for having caused so much trouble lately. I hope you won't lose all your hope. We will be there for you."
November 25, 2008: Heiss is extradited to the UK and charged with Mr Pyke's murder.
April 28, 2009: Heiss goes on trial at Nottingham Crown Court for murder. Prosecutor Shaun Smith QC describes the murder as a "savage and sustained" attack.
May 11, 2009: Heiss is convicted of murdering Mr Pyke.
-
Last Updated:
11 May 2009 2:02 PM
-
Source:
n/a
-
Location:
Yorkshire
