Photo Courtesy of Bedfordshire Police
A Luton, England, family has finally gotten justice in the February 2022 murder of their loved one, Saul Murray. Four suspects were sentenced to prison in connection to his death.
Via the official Bedfordshire Police Facebook account, the long-overdue convictions of Cleon Brown, 29, Surpreet Dhillon, 36, Temidayo Awe, 21, and Ikem Affia, 31, were sentenced to various prison terms on March 3.
“Ikem Affia was identified as the main suspect in Murray’s death after our detectives were able to piece together his movements using CCTV and vehicle telematics. They also found that his Moncler coat matched the coat seen on the CCTV footage from Mr. Murray’s flat at the time of the offense.
Affia will now serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars.
Three other people, Cleon Brown, 29, Surpreet Dhillon, 36, and Temidayo Awe, 21, were also handed prison sentences today after they were found guilty of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery in connection with the incident.”
Brown, Awe and Dhillon were found guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery and manslaughter. Affia was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. All of the convicted killers’ prison terms will run concurrently.
Affia, a native of London, was handed a minimum prison term of 25 years. His punishment also includes 14 years for conspiracy to commit robbery.
Dhillon, also from London, was handed a ten-year sentence in jail for her part in the crimes.
South Hackney native Brown will serve 11 years in prison.
The youngest suspect, Awe, of Gillingham, will spend seven years behind bars.
According to a press release from the Bedfordshire Police, Murray, 33, was set up by Dhillon to be robbed after she initially met him on Instagram. The pair continued their conversation on WhatsApp. Murray and Dhillon agreed to hook up the day before his 34th birthday. The convicted killer hatched a plan to rob the unsuspecting man after seeing him floss an expensive Rolex watch on Instagram.
On February 26, 2022, Dhillon and Awe were caught on surveillance video entering Murray’s Luton flat shortly before midnight. After arriving at his flat, Awe slipped out a few hours later to bring Brown and Affia back to the apartment to rob the father of six. Dhillon used a broom to leave the door open to the complex. The women had put GBH in Murray’s drink to knock him out.
After 2:30 am, the quad was seen leaving the Luton flat. Affia was seen on the video with a large knife. Murray was captured on surveillance footage running to the flat’s main door before passing it. A coroner determined that a stab wound pierced his femoral artery causing him to hemorrhage to death. The 33-year-old’s body was discovered by a groundskeeper the following morning.
The key to catching the suspects was a designer coat Affia wore to commit the crime. The 31-year-old convicted killer was rocking an exclusive Montcler coat worth £1,300 (almost $1600). Although only 300 of the high-priced designer jackets were available in the UK, a police investigation determined that only 69 Montcler coats had been sold online. Authorities tracked one of the purchases to Affia’s home address. His significant other purchased it in 2021.
Detective Inspector Dale Mepstead, who covers major crimes in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire, shared his thoughts on the egregious crime.
“This was clearly a planned attack; facilitated by Dhillon and Awe and carried out by Affia and Brown. It’s obvious from the way the two women used a sedative substance on Mr. Murray and the fact Affia was armed with a knife that they were prepared to get what they wanted at any cost – which sadly was Mr. Murray’s life.”
Mepstead continued, “This was a very lengthy and complex investigation, which involved scrutinizing hours of CCTV, phone data, vehicle telematics and other evidence to place each of them at Mr. Murray’s flat at the time of the offense. I hope that the knowledge that all four people involved in this horrific incident will be locked up for a very long time can bring some justice to Saul’s loved ones.”