A 19-year-old British man was convicted Tuesday of murdering two sisters as they celebrated a birthday during a London park, a criminal offense driven by the deluded belief that the killings would help him win a lottery jackpot.
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A jury at London’s Central court deliberated for eight hours before finding Danyal Hussein guilty of fatally stabbing Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, at Fryent Country Park in June 2020.
Prosecutors said Hussein, who didn’t know the victims, had pledged to kill six women every six months within the belief he would win the Mega Millions Super Jackpot lottery. They said the suspect was hooked in to demons and spells, and had signed a pact in his blood with a mythical figure referred to as King Lucifuge.
He was traced through DNA after cutting himself as he attacked the sisters.
The victims’ mother, Mina Smallman, a retired Church of England archdeacon, has criticized the way police responded when her daughters were reported missing on the evening of June 6, 2020. She has said officers showed a scarcity of urgency after watching one daughter’s address and seeing her as “a Black woman who lives on a council (public housing) estate.”
The family launched its own search, and therefore the sisters’ bodies were found in bushes by Nicole Smallman’s boyfriend 36 hours after the killings. relations found the weapon utilized in the slayings nearby.
Britain’s police watchdog is investigating the way officers handled the missing-persons report. Two cops have also been charged with misconduct publicly office for allegedly sharing pictures of the crime scene on WhatsApp.
Outside court, Mina Smallman said that while she had “made no bones” about her criticism of London’s Metropolitan Police, “today I even have to mention that I can only commend them.”
“This team moved heaven and earth to make sure we felt that we were being supported. this is often the type of police that i think in and that we got to work towards so we’ve justice and families are treated with respect.
“Today, we remember our girls because the wonderful, strong women they were, and that we hope that some good will begin of this horrible story,” she said.
Police revealed after Hussein’s conviction that he had been sent to a de-radicalization program at age 15 when his school became concerned he was susceptible to violent extremism.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, the senior investigating officer, said Hussein was “a very, very dangerous individual.”
“I firmly believe he would have administered his contract,” Harding said. “He would have carried on killing women, until he had killed the primary six, if he had not won the lottery by that stage — every six months is what he said.