'Destroyed my entire life': Ex-wife speaks about man's animal cruelty ...
In August, he was sentenced to 10 years and five months in jail for bestiality, vile acts of animal cruelty and possessing child abuse material.
He raped, tortured and killed as many as 42 dogs over an 18-month period.
Erin has spent the past two years trying to comprehend the indescribable crimes of her then-husband, a once internationally celebrated zoologist and crocodile expert.
"I cannot comprehend still how someone can be so depraved, so evil," she told 60 Minutes in her first interview since Britton's arrest.
"He's just destroyed my entire life."
Erin and Adam Britton ran a wildlife consulting business, at times working alongside David Attenborough. (Nine)They ran a wildlife consulting business together on the outskirts of Darwin.
The pair at times worked alongside Prince Harry and David Attenborough, and their pet crocodiles were the stars of many nature documentaries.
To the outside world, Britton appeared to be a devoted husband and renowned wildlife scientist, driven to study and protect animals.
Erin thought she'd met her soulmate and business partner for life, and had no inkling he was in fact leading a double life.
Britton's offending was well-planned, and over 18 months from November 2020 to April 2022, he sourced 42 dogs from online classifieds site Gumtree.
He pretended to offer loving care for pets who needed rehoming, but in reality he was a sadist who after sexually violating the dogs, tortured them to death.
NT Detective Sergeant Mark Cronin led the investigation and said Britton used a variety of weapons to hurt the animals.
"It did include knives. It included tools … wooden objects, as well as saws and fishhooks and pretty much anything you can imagine and probably things you cannot," Cronin said.
NT Detective Sergeant Mark Cronin led the investigation and said Britton used a variety of weapons to hurt the animals. (Nine)Britton filmed his many hours of offending on multiple cameras, uploading his videos to his deviant fanbase.
He hid his face and went by usernames Monster and Cerberus; the latter known in Greek mythology as the multi-headed hound of hell.
An appalled anonymous viewer saw an orange dog lead with the Darwin City Council slogan on it in one of his videos, and tipped off animal welfare.
"That's why it came to us, that tiny bit of information," Cronin said.
Northern Territory police raided Britton's home on the outskirts of Darwin on April 22, 2022.
In police body camera vision obtained by 60 Minutes, Britton is seen complying with directions and volunteering to assist with the investigation as he was placed under arrest.
Erin was away on a work trip at the time and found out what Britton had been charged with once she spoke with his lawyer.
"She told me that there were crimes of animal cruelty and, you know, obviously there was bestiality," Erin said.
"And when she told me bestiality … my brain was [in] denial, 'no'. Hearing that information is the most awful thing you could ever hear about your partner.
"It was so shocking and I felt sick, I couldn't speak.
"My brain was having trouble processing and understanding how such a horrible thing could even exist in the world."
Erin returned home to be confronted with evidence of her husband's hideous crimes, including dog remains stored in a freezer.
How such brazen crimes could go undetected in one's own home is a reality Erin is still grappling with.
"That's the question I've been asking myself every day is, 'Why did I not know? What did I miss?'" she said.
"Scratching my head, trying to look, trying to play back events of the last few years to see if there's any detail or anything and then, but there's nothing."
Erin told 60 Minutes the pair had been sleeping in separate rooms, and although they still had a close bond as partners and friends, it had been a number of years since they were romantically involved.
Cronin said Britton's worst offending occurred when Erin was away on long expeditions as a wildlife specialist.
"There was certainly nothing uncovered during our investigation that suggested she had anything to do with it or even, you know, knew anything about it," Cronin said.
"I think if anything, it was probably quite the opposite, that steps were taken to make sure she was unaware."
In tracking down Britton, police uncovered a community of like-minded sadists including Lucas Vanwoert, 27, from Ohio, who was known online as Graves.
Police uncovered other sadists like Lucas Vanwoert - known as 'Graves' - during their investigation into Britton. (Nine)He too brutally mutilated dogs and killed at least four of them. Like Britton, Vanwoert's crimes were captured on camera and shared on the dark web.
Vanwoert was sentenced to eight years in jail and the manhunt for other offenders in his and Britton's circle continues.
In 2023, Britton pleaded guilty to 63 offences, which included the possession and transmission of child exploitation material.
Authorities believe, unlike animals, Britton never physically harmed children.
Awaiting sentencing, Britton wrote letters to Erin from his prison cell, which offer an extraordinary insight into his mindset, as he completely ignores his crimes.
In one letter he asks his now ex-wife to send him a book on dog domestication.
"He is a psychopath," Erin said.
"He doesn't have any consciousness of what is right or wrong. I feel like I've lost so much of my life and I feel like I've been completely duped.
"I'm angry and I'm upset and there's nothing I could have done. It's very disturbing."
Erin is now committed more than ever to her wildlife work, fighting to toughen the laws against those who hurt animals.
"I'm still here. I still have to continue living," she said.
"And now, I feel there's quite a sense of energy about me, a fury, that I will do something with my life and that's fight for wildlife, fight for animals."
PAWS Darwin is dedicated to providing care for unwanted animals with the ultimate goal of re-homing these animals to loving families.
The RSPCA is Australia's pre-eminent animal welfare organisation.
PartnerSPEAK provides advocacy and support for non-offending partners, family members, friends, or anyone else who is affected by a person's involvement in child sexual abuse and child exploitation material.
Watch the full episode of 60 Minutes on 9Now.
