R v Christopher Wright & Karl Schwalbe
Gordon Stables and Katherine White, led by Peter Moulson KC, prosecuted Christopher Wright, a farmer who shot and dismembered his lodger, and his lifelong friend Karl Schwalbe who helped him dispose of the body.
Jurors at Sheffield Crown Court heard how Wright killed Richard Dyson when he tried to steal a gun from him, before disposing of the body with the help of his childhood friend Schwalbe.
Richard Dyson, 55, disappeared in November 2019, but his remains were not discovered inside a concrete-filled barrel in a trailer on a farm near Barnsley for nearly six years.
Wright, 73, was convicted of murder and Schwalbe, 72, was found guilty of perverting the course of justice. Wright was also found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial and six firearms offences.
Following a seven-week trial, jurors took 12 hours and 30 minutes to reach their verdicts.
Mr Justice Barry Cotter told the defendants he would sentence them on 6 August, adding: “You have been found guilty of the charges against you.”
The case has received coverage on the BBC, ITV, and the Daily Express.
