Carl Langdell lied to his victim about having his own firm
A young man who claimed he was a law student and had his own law firm has today been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a young history teacher.
26 year-old Carl Langdell will serve a minimum of 26 years in prison for the gruesome Christmas Eve murder of 23 year-old Katie Locke, who was found dead in a luxury Hertfordshire hotel last year. The pair were reportedly on a date, having met on dating website Plenty of Fish.
In recent days, more details have emerged about the murder, and these make for particularly difficult reading. It is understood the bogus lawyer strangled his young victim, raped her dead body, and took photos of her. He then dumped her body in a bush on the four star hotel’s grounds, before later telling his mother he was a “monster” who had killed Locke in a sex game gone wrong. He pleaded guilty to the murder in March.
A defining feature of the case is that Langdell, who has been dubbed the ‘Plenty of Fish killer’, lied to Locke and others about his education and career. According to his LinkedIn page, which is still live, Langdell is a Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) student at BPP University, and is the founder of ‘Langdell Legal Associates’.
However, when Legal Cheek contacted BPP for comment, the law school categorically denied that Langdell was, or ever had been, a student there.
Ann Evans, prosecuting, said that:
The tragedy of this case is that Katie Locke, like thousands of other young people, having agreed to a date with Carl Langdell, accepted what he told her about himself.
Today, Langdell was sentenced to life in prison by Judge Andrew Bright QC at St Albans Crown Court. He told Langdell:
I am firmly in the view that you pose a very great danger to women and young girls with whom you come into contact in the future, and I note that you have described yourself to others as a monster and a psychopath because of what you did to Katie Locke.
The minimum time he must serve before being considered for parole is 25 years and 205 days.