South Yorkshire man who killed lodger and hid body in concrete gets 35-year sentence

Christopher Wright, a 73-year-old farmer from South Yorkshire, has been jailed for a minimum of 35 years after being convicted of murdering his lodger, Richard Dyson, 55, in 2019. The crime remained concealed for over five years as Wright dismembered Dyson’s body and hid the remains in a barrel filled with concrete.

Background

Dyson had been living in his car on Wright’s farm in Hoyland and performing odd jobs for the then 67-year-old when the two had a falling out. Wright, an antique firearms collector described as a “weapons fanatic” during his trial, suspected Dyson of stealing and selling some of his prized possessions.

Crime Details

In November 2019, Wright confronted Dyson about his suspicions, leading to an argument that ended with Dyson being shot in the chest and arm with a shotgun. Wright, a former butcher, dismembered Dyson’s body over several days before placing the remains in a barrel filled with concrete. He then stored the barrel in a trailer, which he asked an unsuspecting neighbor to keep on their property.

Cover-Up and Investigation

Wright was assisted in covering up the crime by his lifelong friend Karl Schwalbe, who received a three-year sentence for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. Dyson’s disappearance was initially treated as a missing person case, and his remains went undiscovered for more than five and a half years. Despite police awareness that Dyson had been on Wright’s land before vanishing, no evidence initially implicated Wright.

In July 2025, new evidence emerged showing Wright had contacted a local farmer about storing a vehicle shortly after Dyson’s disappearance. Police searched the farm and discovered the barrel containing concrete and human remains, later identified as Dyson’s.

Sentencing and Impact

At sentencing, Mr Justice Cotter told Wright he would likely die in prison, noting that his experience as a butcher made him “skilled enough to do such a terrible thing, something few ordinary people would have the stomach for.”

Dyson’s daughter, Bethany Dainty, who filed the missing person report, delivered a victim impact statement in court: “I couldn’t grieve because I did not know the truth. While I cried myself to sleep, while I begged for answers, while I prayed my dad would walk through the door again, someone already knew where he was. Someone watched me suffer for years and said nothing. That level of cruelty is impossible for me to understand.”

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Knowles praised Dyson’s family for their strength during the “long, complex and emotionally draining” investigation, stating: “Wright and Schwalbe knew what happened to Richard and even with the evidence against them, they continued to deny accountability, making Richard’s family endure a trial, listen to harrowing evidence and distressing testimonies.”