Jack Sepple, 23, pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court to murdering 19-year-old Ashley Wadsworth. Mrs Wadsworth was found dead at an address in Tennyson Road, Chelmsford, Essex, on February 1. The inquest hearing was told he died from “stab wounds to the chest”. Ms Wadsworth had met her boyfriend, Sepple, through an online dating app and traveled to the UK late last year. In a brief hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court on Wednesday, Sepple’s barrister said a psychiatrist had indicated the defendant was fit to plead. Christopher Paxton QC, for Sepple, said “the issue of fitness has now been resolved” and asked that the defendant be asked to enter a plea. The bailiff read the single charge of murder, and Sepple, standing in the secure dock in long white sleeves and tattoos on his face and arm, replied: “I’m guilty.” The teenager spoke three languages and dreamed of becoming a lawyer (PA) Judge Christopher Morgan told Sepple: “On pleading guilty to murder there is only one sentence that can be imposed and that is life imprisonment.” Sepple was remanded in custody pending an administrative sentencing date. Ms. Wadsworth, originally from Vernon, British Columbia, moved to Chelmsford on Nov. 12, 2021, she wrote on Facebook. She is said to have flown to the UK as a “birthday present” to meet Mr Sepple on what her family described as “a trip of a lifetime”. The teenager posted several pictures of the pair smiling together on days out in Essex and London, including tourist spots at Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. In a January 11 post, she wrote: “All the photos (more to come) from my amazing trip to London with Jack and his parents for his birthday! So grateful for them.” On January 30, just two days before her murder, Ms Wadsworth changed her profile picture to a close-up of herself and Mr Sepple together. (Daniel Seaman/SWNS) The teenager was due to return home days after she was found stabbed to death at a property in Tennyson Road, Chelmsford. Ms Wadsworth’s 18-year-old cousin Kali has now revealed that the victim’s family paid for a return air ticket to Canada after her sister Hailey allegedly saw Sepple hit her in a FaceTime call. The relative also alleged Sepple was possessive and removed Ms Wadsworth from her social media accounts. He told MailOnline: ‘She was going through her social media and the reason she played was because she saw an old chat. “The reason this whole fight started in the first place was because he had seen an old chat where she was flirting with someone. “She was freaking out and Ashley was on FaceTime with Hailey and she saw him start hitting her. “Afterward [Hailey] he reached out and tried to get her an earlier plane ticket. She had logged into all of her social media [sic]deleted all her posts and changed all her passwords and jailbroken her phone.” A judge told Sepple he faces up to life in prison (Ashley Wadsworth/Facebook) Ms Wadsworth was found dead after Essex Police responded to calls from neighbors reporting a disturbance at an apartment building at about 4pm. First aiders fought to save the life of the 19-year-old but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Sepple was arrested at the scene and later charged with her murder. Mrs Wadsworth’s family previously paid tribute to a “kind” and “beautiful” woman who was “fiercely loving and loyal to her family and friends”. In a statement, her relatives celebrated her “spontaneous, witty, kind personality” and remembered her “unforgettable laugh”. The family said they admired the teenager’s sense of adventure and that she had traveled extensively in Canada, as well as Mexico, California and England. She spoke three languages - English, French and Spanish – and traveling “encouraged her love of language”, they said. The family said he dreamed of becoming a lawyer, worked hard for good grades and had been accepted to Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia.
