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Man gets life in prison over plot to rape and murder famous British TV personality in case cracked by undercover U.S. cop
A man was sentenced to life in prison Friday for plotting to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby, one of Britain’s most high-profile television personalities, in a case that an undercover Minnesota police officer helped crack.
At the sentencing hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court, around 40 miles east of London, Judge Edward Murray told Gavin Plumb, 37, that he would have to serve a minimum term of 16 years before he can be eligible for parole.
Plumb was found guilty by a jury last week following an eight-day trial.
“Over a number of years, you pursued an unhealthy sexual obsession with Holly Willoughby that led you ultimately to plan over that period to kidnap, to rape and to murder her,” the judge said. “You intended to harm her husband and her children as part of your plan.”
Plumb’s kidnap plans, as fleshed out in vivid detail in an online chat group, involved attempting to “ambush” Willoughby at her family home. He had even discussed taking time off work in order to organize the attack.
The judge said Plumb’s plans were so “horrifying, shocking and graphic in detail” that they were not shared in open court, though the jury did hear them.
Dave Benett/Getty Images for BGC Group
They were, he added, “particularly sadistic, brutal and degrading” and he had no doubt the plans were “considerably more than a fantasy.”
Plumb, who had prior convictions for attempted kidnap, had argued in his defense that his detailed plan was just online chat and fantasy.
Though Willoughby’s impact statement was not relayed, the judge said it was clear that Plumb’s plot had a “catastrophic and “life-changing” impact on the TV personality, privately and professionally.
Willoughby, 43, has for years been one of the most high-profile television personalities in the U.K. Soon after Plumb’s arrest, she stood down after 14 years in her role presenting “This Morning,” a magazine program on ITV that mixes celebrity interviews and entertainment news with discussions about current affairs. She did return to co-host the channel’s “Dancing on Ice” earlier this year.
“I’ve never seen such a skilled detective”
Plumb was snared after an undercover Minnesota police officer infiltrated an online group called “Abduct Lovers” and became so concerned about Plumb’s posts that evidence was passed to the FBI.
Plumb told the officer, who was using the pseudonym David Nelson, that he was “definitely serious” about his plot to kidnap Willoughby, leaving the officer with the impression that there was an “imminent threat” to her.
U.S. law enforcement in turn contacted their counterparts in U.K., and when Essex police officers raided Plumb’s flat in north London they found bottles of chloroform and an “abduction kit” complete with cable ties.
Jeff Mundale, Owatonna’s police chief, told CBS Minnesota that his detective needed just two days of messaging and building trust to get the information he needed to decide to alert the FBI and British police.
“In my 29 years of serving law enforcement, I’ve never seen such a skilled detective in engaging in this sort of work,” said Jeff Mundale, Owatonna’s police chief. “It’s certainly impressive.”
When Plumb was arrested and officers told him that the allegations concerned Willoughby, the defendant told them: “I’m not gonna lie, she is a fantasy of mine.”
Willoughby waived her right to anonymity in connection with the charge against Plumb of assisting or encouraging rape. In the U.K., alleged victims of sex offenses or targets of sex offense conspiracies have a right to automatic anonymity for life from the moment an allegation is made by them or anyone else.
Detective Chief Inspector Greg Wood, of Essex Police, the senior investigating officer, said the case “brought misogyny and violence against women and girls to the fore” and paid tribute to Willoughby and others
“It has demonstrated that we all have much to do to stamp it out of society,” he said outside of the court following the sentencing. “It cannot be right that men like Gavin Plumb are able to join online forums where they freely vent their hatred towards women and girls and plot to cause them harm. We need everyone to stand up and call out misogyny and to report those causing violence towards women and girls.”
Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.
A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”
“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”
The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”
“Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump said. “Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country. Anybody would know this.”
The personal attacks have been something of a trend for Trump since Harris entered the race. In July, Trump falsely questioned Harris’ racial identity during a panel with the National Association of Black Journalists.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said at the time. “So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”
When asked in an interview with CBS News last month if he believes the personal attacks will hurt him with voters, he responded, “No, I don’t think so.”
Trump, meanwhile, hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.
Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris’ father, how his beach body was better than President Biden’s, and a fly that was buzzing near him.
“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. “Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”
Trump repeatedly brought up Harris’ Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden’s executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump’s handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”
“I had to sit there and listen” to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”
Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.
Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trail.”
“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”
She said Trump was “a very unserious man.”
“However the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious,” she said.
The Harris campaign Saturday again challenged Trump to a second debate, this time in the form of a football-themed television ad. Following his Wisconsin rally, Trump traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game Saturday evening, and the Harris campaign premiered the ad during the game.
“Champions know its anytime, anyplace, but losers, they whine and waffle,” the ad’s narrator said.
Kendy Howard was found dead in her bathtub. While dispatched as a suicide, clues at the scene made Kootenai County authorities suspicious. Here’s a look at the case:
A 26-year marriage
Brian Wilkins
Dan and Kendy Howard had been married since 1994. By 2021, Dan Howard had gone from working as an Idaho State Trooper to working in the Alaskan oil fields for three weeks at a time.
Kendy seeks divorce
Brian Wilkins
On Jan. 28, 2021, just five days before she died, Kendy Howard picked Dan Howard up from the airport and told him she wanted a divorce. She described Dan’s reaction to a friend as having been “not good.”
Dan Howard’s call to 911
Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney
On the night of Feb. 2, 2021, at 10:43 p.m., Dan Howard called 911, screaming Kendy had shot herself. “She’s in the bathtub dead …”
The call was dispatched as a suicide.
Dan Howard at the scene
Kootenai County District Court
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Miranda Thomas was one of the first officers to arrive. Thomas said she witnessed Dan Howard screaming, crying and gagging.
Kendy Howard found in the bathtub
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
Caption: Kendy Howard was found dead, naked in the bathtub of her home, with a gunshot wound to her head. Kendy’s gun was submerged in the bathwater.
A packed duffle bag
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
Thomas noticed a duffle bag with what she said seemed to be women’s clothing packed inside.
A clue on the dryer
Kootenai County District Court
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Detective Jerry Northrup said that in the dryer he observed “bathmats and towels … and they were still somewhat warm,” which he said led him to question when the cycle had been started.
How did Kendy Howard really die?
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
Kendy Howard’s gun was found in the bathtub. Investigators said they would have expected to see a lot more blood in the bathtub if she had been alive when she was shot.
Kendy’s daughter accuses Dan Howard
CBS News
When Dan Howard called his stepdaughter Brooke Wilkins with the news of Kendy’s death, investigators said they could overhear Wi accuse Dan of killing her mother. Despite their suspicions, detectives said there was not enough evidence at the scene to arrest Dan.
Dan Howard arrested
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
It took two years for prosecutors to build their case. In July, 2023, Dan Howard was arrested and charged with Kendy Howard’s murder.
Dan Howard on trial
Pool
On March 4, 2024, the trial of Dan Howard began. The prosecution claimed Dan had killed Kendy by putting her in a carotid restraint hold – a maneuver he had learned in his law enforcement training. The defense maintained that Kendy’s death was a suicide. After 10 days of testimony, 62 witnesses, and just over eight hours of deliberations, a verdict was reached.
Dan Howard found guilty
On March 19, 2024, the jury found Dan Howard guilty of second-degree murder and domestic battery.
Life in prison
Pool
At Dan Howard’s sentencing hearing in May 2024, Judge Lamont Berecz told him, “You killed a mother. You killed a grandmother. You killed a sister … You snuffed that out because of your own pride, greed, and anger.” Dan Howard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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