Man to be sentenced for murdering Suffolk couple

A man is to appear in court to be sentenced for the murders of a husband and wife in rural Suffolk.

The body of Peter Stuart, 75, was found stabbed in shallow water in woodland near his home in Weybread, Suffolk, on June 3 last year, and his wife, Sylvia, 69, is missing presumed dead.

A jury took around three hours of deliberation to find 43-year-old Ali Qazimaj guilty of their murders following a month-long trial at Ipswich Crown Court on Monday.

The defendant, who claims he is a man called Vital Dapi from Albania, is due to be sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutors said Qazimaj had lived in Tilbury, Essex, and was a carer to the father-in-law of the Stuarts' daughter, Christy Paxman.

The court heard Qazimaj had gambling debts and believed the Stuarts to be millionaires.

The defendant claims he had never been to the UK before his arrest and extradition from Luxembourg.

Friends of the Stuarts had raised the alarm when the couple failed to attend their regular line dancing class.

Judge Jeremy Stuart-Smith warned Qazimaj he faced a life prison sentence.

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