Man jailed for murder of Wirral pensioner Martin Decker

David Iwo, 23, of no fixed address, was setenced for bludgeoning to death the retired CPS lawyer with a hammer at his home in Prenton in March this year.

Mr Decker, 69, was found dead at his home in Vyner Croft on the afternoon of Sunday March 7.

A post-mortem revealed he died of severe blunt force head injury.

Preston Crown Court heard how Iwo, who had carried out a campaign of violence against cats, planned to carry on killing vulnerable gay men.

Iwo laughed as he was sentenced.

David Iwo

Alan Kent QC, prosecuting, said the murder was part of a campaign of violent robberies of vulnerable men.

He said: “Had he not been caught he would have killed again and would not have stopped until he was caught.”

He said Iwo was also accused of the torture and mutilation of 30 cats in the Norfolk area, but after he was “uncooperative” at a plea hearing earlier this month a decision had been made not to proceed with those charges.

The court heard Mr Decker, who worked for CPS Mersey Cheshire as a senior lawyer from 1986 until he retired in 2012, had contacted Iwo in March after seeing his advert offering sexual services on the app Vivastreet.

Martin Decker

Iwo, who appeared via video-link from HMP Manchester, later told police he arranged to go to Mr Decker’s home in Vyner Croft on Saturday, March 6 and they had agreed he would be paid £250.

He armed himself with a hammer and travelled from Liverpool to Wirral with the intention of murdering Mr Decker, the court heard.

In police interview, Iwo said he had shaken hands with Mr Decker, who offered to get him a drink, and when he turned his back to him Iwo had struck him with the hammer repeatedly.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Jacobs said: “You showed no mercy at the time and you have never shown any remorse subsequently.”

Iwo then searched his victim’s clothing and home and took cash, alcohol and valuable electrical items from his house.

He was arrested at a hotel in London on March 10 and pleaded guilty to the murder at a hearing in September.

He told officers he didn’t view Mr Decker as a human but as “an objective”, and saw the murder of a human as a “progression of his habit of killing cats”, Mr Kent said.

He also said he had attempted to strangle a man the week before.

Mr Justice Jacobs said: “You attacked gay men, confident they were not going to report an attack.”

In a letter to a psychiatrist, Iwo said he enjoyed a life “operating outside of the law”.

He said he had enjoyed watching cats struggle and described various ways he had tortured and killed the animals, becoming known as the “NR3 cat killer”.

The court heard that Iwo told police and psychiatrists he had made a conscious decision to live his life by killing and stealing from people who approached him for sex and he would go on until he got caught.

A psychiatric report found he had dissocial personality disorder and was highly narcissistic, with little or no capacity to experience guilt or remorse.

Iwo refused to have legal representation during the hearing, telling the judge: “I do things for myself, if I let someone else do things for me I would be dead.”

When asked if he wanted to make any points Iwo, who was smiling as some of the facts of the case were outlined, said: “I’ve got nothing to say.”

In a statement read to the court, Mr Decker’s brother, Jeremy, who discovered his body the day after his death, said: “Martin deserved so much better. He was a lovely man who was taken from us all.”

He said their 88-year-old mother relied on him and he doubted she would ever recover from the loss.

Following the murder – which police believe happened on the evening of Saturday, March 6 - Iwo returned on public transport back to his accommodation in Anfield before travelling back to London by train the following day.

Following an extensive investigation and trawl of CCTV footage, detectives were able to trace his steps and he was arrested three days later at a London hotel and returned to Merseyside.

Iwo pleaded guilty to Mr Decker’s murder in September.

In passing sentence Justice Jacobs also commended the investigation team.

Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Wilson said: “This was a brutal and senseless killing of an elderly man in his own home which has obviously devastated his family and wide circle of friends and shocked the whole community.

“Following the killing Iwo casually left Mr Decker’s home with bags containing his mobile phone together with jewellery and personal possessions.

“The arrest and prosecution of David Iwo would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the detectives who have worked on this case, viewing hundreds of hours of CCTV footage in order to trace Iwo’s movements which led to his arrest, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their diligence together with our colleagues at the Crown Prosecution Service.

“I would also like to commend the family of Mr Decker for their dignity during these legal proceedings and hope that, while no sentence will bring Martin back, knowing Iwo is behind bars for a considerable period of time, will give them the opportunity to finally start grieving their loss.”