Farmer Jailed 35 Years for Killing Lodger, Hiding Body in Concrete-Filled Barrel for Nearly Six Years

A 73-year-old farmer has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering his lodger, dismembering his body, and concealing the remains in a concrete-filled barrel that went undiscovered for almost six years.

Christopher Wright was convicted at Sheffield Crown Court for the murder of 55-year-old Richard Dyson, who disappeared in November 2019. Investigators later discovered Dyson’s remains inside a barrel hidden in a locked livestock trailer on farmland near Barnsley.

The court heard that Wright shot Dyson with a shotgun after accusing him of stealing one of his firearms. Prosecutors said Wright became enraged when he learned Dyson had taken a valuable machine gun from his collection. Wright, described during the trial as a firearms enthusiast and collector of vintage weapons, farm machinery, and musical instruments, acted in a fit of anger and killed Dyson.

After the murder, Wright enlisted the help of his longtime childhood friend, 72-year-old Karl Schwalbe, to dispose of the body. Schwalbe was later convicted of perverting the course of justice and sentenced to three years in prison.

In addition to murder, Wright was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, preventing a lawful burial, and six firearms-related offences.

Richard Dyson had been living in his car outside Wright’s cottage in Hoyland, South Yorkshire, while helping with farm work, including repairing tractors, cutting hedges, and driving Wright to appointments.

Dyson’s disappearance sparked years of anguish for his family, particularly his daughter, Bethany Dainty, who repeatedly appealed to the public for information about her father’s whereabouts.

In an emotional victim impact statement presented in court, Dainty described the ordeal as a “living nightmare.”

“Someone watched me suffering for years and said nothing. That level of cruelty is impossible for me to understand,” she said.

Although Wright and Schwalbe were questioned by police shortly after Dyson was reported missing in November 2019, both denied any knowledge of his disappearance.

The breakthrough came in July 2025 when investigators reviewing historical mobile phone records discovered Wright had contacted a neighbouring farmer just days after Dyson vanished. Wright requested permission to temporarily store a livestock trailer on the neighbouring property, claiming he was “tidying up” his own farm.

The trailer remained untouched until investigators later searched it and found Dyson’s remains sealed inside a concrete-filled barrel. Wright’s identification was also recovered from the trailer, providing crucial evidence that helped secure his conviction.

The case, which remained unsolved for years, has now ended with justice for Richard Dyson’s family after one of the region’s most disturbing murder investigations.