U.K. boyfriend pleads guilty to murder of Vernon teen

The former boyfriend of Vernon teen Ashley Wadsworth has admitted to murdering her.

The U.K. resident pleaded guilty at a court in Chelmsford, England, today Sept. 7.

According to the Mirror newspaper, Jack Sepple spoke in court only to say "I'm guilty."

The 23-year-old's guilty plea means he will be sentenced to life in prison.

"We really feel like it's a glimmer of light in dark days, it means that she doesn't have to be revictimized," Wadsworth's stepmother Charmaine Wadsworth told iNFOnews.ca.

Wadsworth, 19, died from a "number of stab wounds" and was found dead in Sepple's apartment in Chelmsford, England, on Feb. 1.

The Vernon teen had met Sepple online several years earlier and had flown to the U.K. to meet him in November 2021.

An online fundraiser to return Wadsworth's body to Canada has raised $41,000 to date.

The Mirror reports that a psychiatrist indicated Sepple was mentally fit to plead.

Sepple will now be sentenced at a later date.

READ MORE: Vernon teen murdered in U.K. remembered as 'fun-loving and caring'

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