Stalker who killed 23-year-old model in murder-suicide was her former colleague

The Derbyshire stalker who has been accused of killing model Gracie Spinks has turned out to be her former work colleague who became obsessed with her after just one date.

Spinks, a 23-year-old horse enthusiast, was found dead in a paddock in the village of Duckmanton, Derbyshire on Friday morning. Derbyshire Police confirmed that the body of a 35-year-old man named Michael Sellars was discovered just half a mile away from the spot where Spinks was found murdered.

The police said that they are not looking for any more suspects in the case, indicating a possible murder-suicide.

According to a report in Mail online, the victim who lived near Chesterfield and occasionally modelled for a London agency, met her perpetrator while working as a packer at e-commerce firm Xbite. They went out just once, but the accused could not cope when she refused to go out with him further.

Their colleagues described the suspect as a "loner" and revealed that he was sacked from the company six months ago amid concerns about his conduct towards other staff. One source revealed that the victim had even obtained a restraining order against him previously, because he was "so obsessed with her" and "wouldn't leave her alone." He also used to turn up at the stables where she went riding.

Another source said that the suspect used to live with his parents and was not known to have ever had a girlfriend.

An employee from the company who knew both the deceased believes that the stalker "just flipped and killed" Spinks. The staffer said: "The man used to work here. I knew him - many of us did. We knew Gracie and it is very upsetting. It's going around that she had a stalker who was totally obsessed with her. It's the man who worked here who just flipped and killed her. He was a weirdo and wouldn't leave Gracie alone."

Spinks's friends also confirmed that she had long been bothered by a man who was "obsessed" with her. One friend told The Sun: "We are aware that she had a stalker but didn't know who he was. We heard she had taken out a restraining order against him because he was becoming quite a pest. She's a beautiful young woman, very popular, and he was obsessed with her and kept turning up at the stables. He was infatuated with her."

A villager who lives near the crime scene said that the local word is that the attack was "very vicious and possibly a crime of passion." "Gracie (victim) kept at least one horse on the land – it is grazing land where a number of people have horses and there is a temporary stable. As I understand it, Gracie was looking after her horse when she was attacked. It is just awful," the villager said.