Dad said ‘I’m sending you my baby’ before Facebook boyfriend knifed her 90 times

Canadian teenager Ashley Wadsworth, 19, was murdered by her Facebook boyfriend, Jack Sepple after flying 4,000 miles from Canada to Essex to meet him in person for the first time

What started as an innocent Facebook friendship between two youngsters culminated in the savage death of a 19-year-old with 90 stab wounds to her chest. When officers arrested Ashley Wadsworth’s murderer on February 1, 2022, he was on a FaceTime call to his sister “as he showed her the body.”

Ashley had met Jack Sepple online when she was 12 and he was 15. Throughout the following years, their connection developed into a romance, with the teenager sending her digital sweetheart messages declaring, “I just miss you so much, Jack. I love you so much. I miss you.”

Canadian-born Ashley had yearned to journey across the Atlantic to see Sepple in Essex, but her parents put off the idea for long as possible. Ashley’s mother, Christy Gendron, revealed to ITV True Crime: “Ashley first met Jack, as I understand it, on the Facebook. So they were just friends at first… they’d talk about Britain and he’d ask about Canada.”

Christy and her husband, Ken Wadsworth, were accepting of their daughter’s transatlantic infatuation. “If she was talking to him, I’d say ‘Hi, Jack’ and ask him about England,” Christy said. “I loved his accent.”

Nevertheless, Christy mentioned that she consistently warned her daughter against becoming too emotionally invested in Sepple due to the vast distance between them.

What Christy and Ken were unaware of at the time was that the charming young Englishman their daughter was corresponding with online had several prior convictions, including harassment, violating a restraining order by contacting a girl after she terminated their online relationship, and attacking his own mother.

Ken revealed how, whilst he had initially opposed allowing his daughter to travel to the UK, by the time she reached 19 he realised he couldn’t stop her forever. After Ashley declared, “Well, I’m gonna go, no matter what, so you’re either with me or against me,” Ken gave in and advised her to begin saving for the journey.

Before Ashley embarked on the 4,000-mile trip, Christy pleaded with Sepple to protect her. “I said to him, ‘Jack, I’m sending you my baby, so please take care of her. … I’m trusting you with her.'”.

Sepple attempted to comfort Christy, vowing that he would “guard Ashley with his life.” But after the thrilled teenager boarded the aircraft that would transport her to England, Christy would never witness her daughter alive again.

Ashley’s gap-year adventure began positively, with Ashley informing her mum that she and Sepple had “such a good connection,” but matters deteriorated sharply after the devoted Mormon mentioned to Sepple that she was considering shortening the trip.

Ashley’s sister, Hailey, remembered: “He didn’t take her out for dinner. He didn’t buy her flowers. He didn’t buy her anything. He didn’t do anything nice for her.

“Her life became kind of boring, stuck in the flat that they lived in. Jack wasn’t working, and I said ‘You guys just sit there all day?'”.

Ken added: “I figured they’d be walking around Chelmsford and seeing the sights, but apparently that wasn’t exactly the case. I think they just stayed home and… and I think it was just a control situation.”

Over the Christmas period, a major turning point came after Sepple was admitted to hospital after apparently taking a deliberate drug overdose. “When he got out after New Year’s,” Hailey said, “things really started to change. That’s when he started to be more controlling.”

Ashley told her that Sepple had hit her over the head with a glass cup, Hailey said, and that he was becoming increasingly violent. “It was so awful. I spent two weeks begging her to come home.”

Helen Burtenshaw, who lived next door to Sepple in Tennyson Road, Chelmsford, told how Ashley came knocking on her door on the day she died. “She came running round, banging on the door. She had no shoes on.

“She had a cut on her hand and her phone was smashed to pieces. She said, ‘Jack’s just beaten me up,’ and I said, ‘We’ve got to phone the police.'”.

Ashley tried to prevent Helen from dialling 999, but also told her that a clearly out-of-control Sepple had violently thrown their kitten against a wall. After using Helen’s phone to speak with her family, Ashley agreed to go home.

The only delay was that she needed a COVID test before getting on the flight.

On Tuesday, February 1, Hailey tried frantically to contact her sister, ringing Sepple’s phone because she knew Ashley’s was damaged.

Eventually, Hailey contacted Essex Police, who attended Sepple’s address for a welfare check. Unable to receive a response, despite it being obvious that someone was moving about inside, officers forced entry by kicking down the door.

Detective Superintendent Scott Egerton explained how Sepple was discovered on his bed, with Ashley’s body positioned beside him. “There was a large quantity of blood in that bedroom,” he said.

“It was a truly gruesome scene.”

One of the officers asked Sepple what had happened, DS Egerton said. “And he said, quite chillingly, ‘I went psychotic. I’m sorry.'” Sepple confessed that he had strangled Ashley before stabbing her.

He was detained at the scene, ultimately facing trial at Chelmsford Crown Court in October 2022. The judge, Mr Justice Murray, told Sepple he was “a dangerous individual,” adding that the attack on Ashley had been “brutal and cowardly.”

Sepple was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years and six months, which he must serve before he can be considered for parole.