AN Ipswich man today spoke of his shock after discovering that his former flatmate had become a double murderer in a crime that shocked the world.

AN Ipswich man today spoke of his shock after discovering that his former flatmate had become a double murderer in a crime that shocked the world.

Neil Entwistle, of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, will spend the rest of his life in prison after killing his American wife and nine-month-old baby, Lillian, at their home in Massachusetts in January 2006.

The 29-year-old former IT worker had studied electronic engineering between 1999 and 2001 at York University, where he met his future wife, Rachel, at the university rowing club.

It was during that time that Adam Green moved in with Entwistle and two other students in York, for a year.

Mr Green, a development engineer at BT's Adastral Park, remembered Entwistle as a gentleman and said he couldn't believe he had killed his family.

The 28-year-old, of Rosebery Road, Ipswich, said: “He was quiet and spent a lot of time in his room. He was a keen runner and kept himself very trim. Rachel was chatty and outgoing.

“They met at the rowing club and seemed to live happily ever after. I couldn't imagine him doing what he did.”

During the two-week trial, which ended last month, the jury heard that Entwistle was in debt and had a secret life in which he trawled the internet for escorts and looked at websites about bankruptcy, killing and suicide.

His defence insisted that Mrs Entwistle had been depressed and had killed her daughter, then herself.

Entwistle also claimed that after discovering the bodies he did not call the emergency services but instead got a knife to kill himself, but could not go through with it.

He bought a one-way ticket to London and flew out without any luggage, eventually arriving at his parents' house in Worksop.

The first Mr Green knew of the tragedy was when watched the news of the trial. He said: “I was shocked and in horror.

“I recognised him and then heard he had an American wife. It took a little while for the penny to drop.

“He was quite strong-willed. If he had intended to kill himself, I believe he would have gone through with it.”

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