A man who murdered a 79-year-old widow in her home, then called sex chat lines as she lay dead or dying, has died in prison.
Gareth Dack, 41, was found dead at HMP Frankland in Brasside, Durham, on Monday.
A Prison Service spokesperson said the Prison and Probation Ombudsman would investigate, “as with all deaths in custody”.
Dack was called “perverted and disgusting” by Mrs Justice Whipple at his sentencing for the 2016 murder of Hartlepool grandmother Norma Bell.
Dack attacked Ms Bell, a widowed mother of nine, cut up her clothing, then called sex chat lines as she lay dead or dying.
He then attempted to set fire to her house in a bid to destroy the evidence.
Dack, a father of four, was jailed for life with a minimum of 33 years following a three-week trial at Teesside Crown Court.
At sentencing, the trial judge told Dack: “You killed Norma Bell in cold blood in her own home when she was defenceless.
“She had done nothing to deserve your violence, then you set fire to her home in a failed attempt to cover your tracks.”
Dack was a drug user, heavily in debt and had pressured Ms Bell to lend him £10 the week before.
Ms Bell and her late husband John had three sons. They were also parents to six long-term foster children, who they considered their own.
A family statement after the trial said Ms Bell had a “heart as big as a lion”.
It added: “Her murder has left an enormous gap in our lives and forgiveness will never be given.”
