The heir to a $292 million pie fortune brutally murdered his only friend on Christmas Eve in the UK — and made grisly internet searches while plotting the twisted attack, according to reports.
Dylan Thomas, 24, searched “anatomy of the neck” just before allegedly ambushing his unsuspecting roommate and friend, William Bush, 23, who was planning on moving in with a girlfriend, it was revealed at his trial on Wednesday, according to The US Sun.
friend to death in their shared home. WALES NEWS SERVICE
The alleged murderer is the heir to the business empire of his grandfather Sir Gilbert Stanley Thomas, which includes the vaunted Peter’s Pies. The British food giant is worth an estimated $292 million.
On Christmas Eve 2023, Thomas told his friend, whom he met in primary school 10 years earlier, that he needed to see him prior to the pair going home for Christmas, The Sun reported.
Thomas coaxed Bush into his bedroom and stabbed him in the back of the neck with either a lock knife or a flick knife in a “frenzied attack,” in Cardiff, the court heard, according to the outlet.
to reports. WALES NEWS SERVICE
Bush fled for his life leaking blood down two flights of stairs of their shared home, through the kitchen, and out to the patio as his assailant followed in pursuit, prosecutors alleged in court, according to the report.
On the patio, Bush was repeatedly stabbed in the head and the chest, and would finally succumb to a “fatal laceration to an artery in the neck,” according to prosecutor Greg Bull, The Sun reported.
Bush sustained a total of 37 stab wounds, including 13 to the front and side of his neck, according to the BBC.
“Screams of horror” could be heard from the street during the attack, Bull told the court, The Independent reported.
stab wounds to his head, hands, and neck, according to reports. South Wales Police
Bull suggested to jurors that a kitchen knife had been used for the final portion of the attack, according to that report.
A video shown to the jury shows officers confronting a blood-covered Thomas on that fateful Christmas Eve after receiving calls.
In the video, police can be heard asking Thomas, “Where’s the person who did this,” according to The Independent. Thomas replied that the assailant was dead, and that he had disarmed him.
The court heard testimony from the deceased girlfriend — who said that the sick pie heir had talked about killing his only friend prior to the alleged murder.
Jeffries told police that the dynamic of the two friends’ relationship changed when she began to date Bush, and turned dramatically worse when the couple announced plans to move in together, the BBC reported.
“Will told me that Dylan had come into his room and told him ‘I have thought and/or wondered about killing you,” girlfriend Ella Jeffries told police, according to The Independent.
Will would sleep with his door barricaded after those comments, according to the report.
Thomas had a strange run-in with the law in the weeks leading up to the alleged murder.
On Nov. 6, 2023, Thomas was arrested for trying to climb the fence of Buckingham Palace, the BBC reported. Thomas was out on bail for that arrest at the time of the alleged murder, according to that report.
The jury will determine whether this act buttresses arguments that Thomas was not of sound mind while allegedly carrying out the heartless killing of his best friend — with some arguing the statements about murderous ideation and the anatomical internet searches indicate premeditation. Two psychiatrists at the trial came to conflicting conclusions, according to The Independent.
Since his arrest, Thomas has been receiving treatment for schizophrenia at hospital, prosecutors said according to The Independent.
Thomas has pleaded guilty to manslaughter of Bush, but has denied murder charges.
The trial is ongoing.
