Four convicted over death of man drugged and stabbed in plot to steal Rolexes

A 31-year-old has been convicted of murdering a man who was drugged and stabbed to death after being lured by a woman who had seen his Rolex watches on Instagram.

Saul Murray, 33, was drugged with the sedative GHB, stabbed and left for dead at his home in Luton last February, Bedfordshire Police said as Ikem Affia was convicted of murder alongside two women and a man found guilty of manslaughter.

Mr Murray had posted images of himself wearing two Rolex watches on Instagram that were spotted by Surpreet Dhillon, 36, Luton Crown Court heard.

She contacted him and the pair spoke over WhatsApp before Dhillon and Temidayo Awe, 21, went to meet Mr Murray at his flat.

Both women were convicted of manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery along with Cleon Brown, 29.

Affia, 31, was convicted of murder, possession of a bladed article and conspiracy to commit robbery.

CCTV footage taken outside Mr Murray’s flat on the night of his death showed the two women entering with their victim just before 11.40pm, Bedfordshire Police said.

One of the women propped open the communal door with a broom as the other left shortly before 2.30am.

She returned with the two men, Brown and Affia, and all four left together 20 minutes later, with one of the men seen on the footage clearly carrying a large knife, officers said.

Mr Murray was then seen running towards the door before losing consciousness and collapsing.

Emergency services found him dead just after 5am on February 27 and a post-mortem examination showed he had died after losing blood from a knife wound.

Detectives said they could identify Dhillon and Awe from CCTV while further footage showed a Mercedes Benz acting suspiciously near Mr Murray’s flat which had been hired by Brown.

CCTV from a fast-food restaurant in London showed Brown with a man believed to be Affia wearing a distinctive designer coat identical to a garment seen on the footage from Mr Murray’s flat.

Information from the manufacturer revealed that one of these coats had been sold to Affia’s partner.

This, along with data which placed Brown’s hired Mercedes Benz at Affia’s home address before and after Mr Murray’s death, led to Affia’s arrest.

Affia and Brown, of Hackney, east London, Dhillon, of Forest Gate, east London, and Awe, of Gillingham, Kent, were convicted on Tuesday after a 10-week trial at Luton Crown Court.

They will be sentenced at the same court on March 3.

Detective Inspector Dale Mepstead, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: “This alarming act of violence resulted in Mr Murray losing his life in the most horrific way.

“All four had planned to rob Mr Murray of any expensive belongings he may have had, and had agreed to use force and threats, as well as the use of a sedative substance – in this case GHB that the women used on Mr Murray – to get what they wanted.

“Not only was the attack on him brutal, but all four left him alone to die from his injuries.

“This was a very complex investigation that involved a lot of CCTV and phone work to identify the rightful suspects and I am pleased that all four have been found guilty of the part they each played in Mr Murray’s death.”