Baby-Killer Murdered Months After Release

A British man who killed a baby in 1985 was murdered weeks after moving to a home just 11 miles away from the scene of the crime. David Gaut, 54, was found dead in his home in New Tredegar, Wales, on Saturday afternoon, the Telegraph reports. Three local men— Darren Evesham, 47, Ieuan Harley, 23, and David Osbourne, 51—have been charged with his murder and residents suspect they acted after learning what Gaut had done decades earlier. He was released from prison last November after serving 33 years for the murder of Chi Ming Shek, the 17-month-old son of his then-girlfriend, Jane Pickthall.

Prosecutors said Gaut killed the boy while Pickthall had gone for a night out with friends and then placed the body under a chest of drawers to make it look like an accident, the Caerphilly Observer reports. Experts testified that the boy's injuries had been caused by being punched, kicked, or thrown at a hard surface in what was apparently a prolonged attack. "On the jury's finding you not only murdered that child but also tortured him," the sentencing judge said. Neighbors tell the Sun that Gaut said he had been in prison after he moved to the area around six weeks ago, but gave vague and inconsistent details. One resident says they looked him up online after seeing his full name on a letter, and were horrified to discover what he had done. (More United Kingdom stories.)