Katie Locke: Murdered by a dating app match
I Met My Murderer OnlineA first date should bring excitement, nerves and even butterflies. But for Katie Locke, it brought something more sinister.
On Christmas Eve 2015, 24-year-old Katie Locke set off on what she believed would be just another date. It was her first meeting with a man she had met on the dating site, Plenty of Fish. Full of hope, Katie was looking forward to meeting someone new – never dreaming that the night would end in horror.
Join us at Crime+Investigation, as we examine the murder of Katie Locke. Discover what happened that fateful night and the details of the investigation and trial.
Who was Katie Locke?
Katie Locke was a 23-year-old history teacher working in Hackney. Originally from Buckhurst Hill, Essex, the young teacher was described by friends and family as 'warm, intelligent and caring'.
Her parents told reporters, 'Katie worked hard and loved her job as a teacher. In what little spare time she had, she enjoyed sports. We now feel like our future has been stolen from us.'
Katie’s life was promising. She was bright, fun and really enjoyed her career as a teacher. But sadly, the young teacher’s life was about to take a turn for the unimaginable, in an attack that shocked the nation.
Looking to the future and to meet new people, Katie joined Plenty of Fish, where she met 30-year-old Carl Langdell, who claimed to be a lawyer from Cheshunt. The pair arranged a date for Christmas Eve and met at the Theobalds Park hotel in Waltham Cross.
Later, St Albans Crown Court heard how Katie had texted a friend earlier in the evening, to say how well the date was going.
Sadly, this was not the case.
Brutal and shocking
What happened that night was sudden and brutal. During the date, Langdell attacked and murdered Katie in an unprecedented scene. The inquest would later announce that Katie’s cause of death was compression of the neck.
After her brutal killing, Katie’s body was found in the grounds of the hotel. Inquests later discovered that after Carl Langdell killed her, he went on to sexually assault her corpse.
The attack was 'forceful and prolonged', a pathologist later described.
A history of violence
The police investigation into the killing was thorough and fast-moving. Detectives discovered that Langdell had used a fake profile and misrepresented his profession to gain Katie's trust. Forensic evidence tied him to the crime.
Prosecutors argued that Langdell had planned the date with deadly intent. He was portrayed in court as a fantasist, driven by deviant impulses and who told a community psychiatric nurse previously that he wanted to kill a woman and commit sexual acts afterwards.
The jury was told that Katie had seen nothing suspicious, assuming she was meeting someone respectable and safe.
The victim was also unaware that Langdell was serving a suspended sentence for threatening to kill two other people. He had also attacked his own brother in the past and an ex-girlfriend in 2009.
Mental health issues
After the assault on his brother and ex-girlfriend, Langdell was released on bail and placed under the supervision of Hertfordshire’s mental health services. This was after threatening to take his own life multiple times.
As well as having a history of suicidal thoughts, forensic psychiatrists told the court that the suspect was 'emotionally unstable' and said he had 'psychopathic disorders'.
Langdell was described by the court as 'a psychopathic man who got sexual satisfaction from controlling women'.
The court was later told that he was speaking with up to 20 women on dating sites at the time and lying to them about his past and occupation.
Langdell’s conviction and death
Carl Langdell was sentenced to 26 years in prison in 2016. However, he died at age 30 at Wakefield Prison, a maximum-security facility, after being found with a severely injured throat.
Bill Locke, Katie’s father, told the coroner that his daughter 'lived life to the full' and was 'a generous person who cared for others and prioritised them'.
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