UK man sentenced to life in prison for murder of Vernon teen Ashley Wadsworth

Ashley Wadsworth’s killer has been handed a life sentence that comes with a minimum of 23.5 years in prison.

Jack Sepple, 23, was sentenced today in Chelmsford Crown Court after pleading guilty to murder in the same court in September.

Wadsworth, 19, had flown to the United Kingdom in the fall of 2021 to be with Sepple – her boyfriend – and shared many photos of them together in London less than a month before her death.

Essex Police say that the Vernon teen was stabbed to death during a sustained attack in Sepple’s home on Tennyson Road on Feb. 1, 2022.

Her body was discovered in the home after police were alerted to her situation by friends who Wadsworth had texted earlier that day.

She said she needed help and wanted to leave, asking them to come get her from Sepple’s house, but that was followed by a text later on in the day saying that everything was “sorted.”

“During the investigation, officers discovered that the messages telling Ashley’s friends that everything was ‘sorted’ were sent after her death,” Essex Police explained.

Concerned for Wadsworth’s safety, the friends alerted police and officers were dispatched to Sepple’s home around 4:15 pm local time.

After forcing entry into the building, officers found Sepple in the bedroom on his cell phone.

Police said Sepple was next to the slain woman’s body and he calmly told the officers that he had strangled and stabbed Wadsworth.

“Sadly, despite the best efforts of our officers and medics, Ashley, who had moved to the UK from Canada to be with Sepple, was pronounced dead at the scene,” said police.

“A post mortem found Ashley had been stabbed more than 90 times on her body and with bruising on her neck consistent with strangulation.”

Wadsworth’s untimely death sent shockwaves across the pond that rippled through her North Okanagan community and prompted a flood of grief from family and friends.

With Sepple now sentenced, her family released multiple statements about Wadsworth through Essex Police.

Her mother said: "I treasure the time we spent together, with you always protecting me. You were the backbone of our little family.”

Her father added: "You don’t know what you will miss until it is no longer there. But I am forever grateful that I got to tell you I loved you the last time I spoke to you. I wish you were back with us.”