Who is Julie Dixon and what occurred to her?

Julie Dixon was jailed in 2012 for the murder of her long term partner David Twigg after lying about burning him alive.

She killed the 46-year-old in his workshop in March 2011, in Burgh le Marsh near Skegness, Lincolnshire, but phoned police to say masked intruders were to blame.

The case has been unpacked by a new Channel 5 documentary – A Killer Makes a Call.

In the true crime show, friends of the couple revealed she chose to play a song about ‘danger and burning’ at his funeral, despite the circumstances of his death.

Learn more about Dixon, her story and what happened to her below. 

Who is Julie Dixon?

On March 13, 2011, Julie Dixon locked her fiancé David Twigg in his workshop cupboard, doused it in petrol and set fire to it.

Fire crews discovered Mr Twigg kneeling in a ‘prayer-type position’ after breaking into his joinery business in an attempt to save him. He died from smoke inhalation.

The couple were engaged and had been together for 15 years, and after Mr Twigg’s death, Dixon released a statement which read: ‘I am so numb with pain, my heart is broken. I’ve not just lost my partner of 15 years; I’ve lost the love of my life, my best friend, and soul mate.’

DCI Stuart Gibbon said: ‘David was a hard working, respected member of the community whose life was cut short in a brutal way.’

In the immediate aftermath, Dixon was treated as a victim, partly down to her injuries consistent with being caught in the fire herself – with a sooty face and singed hair.

For three months, Dixon gave tearful press interviews, playing the part of the grieving girlfriend.

However, police eventually discovered that their only witness had been lying to them about the nature of the incident. 

It later emerged that Dixon had been searching for ways to kill someone without it showing up in a post-mortem as well as how to disguise tablets in food prior to her partner’s death.

What did Julie Dixon say happened to David Twigg? 

The then-43-year-old put on ‘a performance worthy of an Oscar’ during a 999 call where she hysterically spoke of masked intruders – who became the initial suspects for investigators. 

For months, police tried to get details out of their witness regarding the supposed perpetrators, who she described in basic terms as dressed in black and had a hoodie on, like a mask’.

In the absence of information on the mystery suspects, Dixon was arrested on June 6, 2011, to be questioned as a suspect for the first time.

Even then, it took time to crack the killer according to Mr Gibbon, as the fire destroyed a lot of potential evidence.

Diving into the finances of Mr Twigg’s business, the detective finally found a motive for the killing.

The 46-year-old joiner’s business was about to go bankrupt – but he knew nothing of it as all the conversations about finances were undertaken by his fiancée.

Mr Gibbon suspected Dixon was trying to hide the financial ruin from her partner until it got to a point where she could not carry on any longer.

All the while, Dixon was claiming to have forgotten her passcode to a mobile phone Lincolnshire Police had got possession of.

It also emerged that she had bought petrol the morning of the fire, though she claimed this was for the lawn mower. 

In a prepared statement, Dixon changed her story to say she and Mr Twigg had a suicide pact, but she panicked and ran out the workshop before she was too badly harmed.

Either way, it confirmed that there were no intruders. The focus turned to finding out if the victim was suicidal.

No evidence was found to suggest Mr Twigg was thinking of ending his own life, nor did Dixon’s earlier interviews, and investigators asked if there was enough evidence to prosecute their new suspect.

What happened to Julie Dixon?

Dixon was put on trial for murder and during proceedings, Dixon’s story changed again to claim Mr Twigg’s death was an assisted suicide which she ‘helped’ in.

The court heard that the couple were outwardly in a happy relationship, but Dixon managed to conceal the chaotic financial state that had engulfed David’s business. 

However, on the second day, Dixon changed her plea to guilty – and was eventually sentenced on January 4, 2012, to 23 years behind bars, where she remains.

The judge presiding over the case at Lincoln Crown Court said Dixon’s ‘performance’ in the 999 call, to the emergency services at the scene and later at the hospital would be ‘worthy of the highest praise had she been an actress in a fictional drama and would have merited an Oscar’.  

Judge Michael Heath, addressing Dixon directly, added: ‘David Twigg was an amiable, hard-working and honourable man. What you did to him was evil. There was a significant degree of planning and premeditation.

‘The pain that your prolonged and multiple lying has caused David Twigg’s parents can only be imagined.’

In a statement after Dixon’s sentence, Mr Twigg’s parents said: ‘We have lost our only son, David, at the hands of someone we have loved and treated as a daughter.

‘David was a kind, decent, hard-working man who took great pride in that work and the service he provided to people.

‘We do not want to comment on our thoughts about Julie Dixon who has finally admitted to murdering our wonderful son but have to say we are happy to see justice finally done and will leave her with her own thoughts.’ 

Keith, David’s best friend said: ‘The way David died it will haunt me for the rest of my life, I was absolutely devastated, nobody deserves to die like that. He was my best friend. It still troubles me to this day, to my death it will continue to.’

A Killer Makes a Call airs Tuesday, May 21, at 10pm on Channel 5