2006; JILTED LOVER JAILED FOR MURDER
A salesman who murdered his ex-partner and set fire to her body after she ended their relationship was last night starting a jail sentence of at least 22 years.Kevin Nunn, 45, who has been living with relatives at Main Road, Hockwold, near Thetford, denied killing fitness enthusiast Dawn Walker, whose semi-naked body was found taped to railings next to the River Lark near Bury St Edmunds, on February 4 last year.
After deliberating for just under 13 hours, a jury at Ipswich Crown Court unanimously convicted him of Miss Walker's murder.
Judge Mrs Justice Cox sentenced Nunn, formerly of Woolpit, near Bury St Edmunds, to life imprisonment and said he would serve a minimum of 22 years before being considered for parole.
She said the crime had a "devastating effect" on Miss Walker's family and added that Nunn had been "consumed by jealousy" when he killed her.
"You decided that if you could not have her, no one else would," she said.
"Exactly what you did to Dawn we don't know.
I have no doubt you intended to kill her." During the trial the court heard that 37-year-old Miss Walker, from Fornham St Martin, Suffolk, had left Nunn for a man she had previously had a relationship with.
Prosecutor Graham Parkins said Miss Walker's body was discovered naked from the waist down and had been set alight with petrol.
He said Miss Walker had been in a relationship with Nunn for more than two years.
Miss Walker had told friends that Nunn was "jealous" of other men, and after meeting a previous boyfriend called Stuart White the relationship with Nunn had ended, said Mr Parkins.
He said that Nunn had lied to the police about the events surrounding Miss Walker's death.
The court heard that neighbours of Miss Walker heard the couple rowing on the evening of February 2.
One heard a woman scream "get off, help me", before the screams stopped and a car was heard driving off.
Speaking after the case, Det Supt Roy Lambert, who headed the murder investigation, said: "Dawn is remembered by her family as a loving person with a real zest for life.
Her life was tragically cut short by an appalling crime which left her local community deeply shocked.
Our sympathies remain with her family and friends." Robert Sadd, Crown Prosecutor in the case, said: "This was an attack which was intended to kill and one for which Mr Nunn must now pay the price."
