In 1992 this young woman was murdered in broad daylight on Wimbledon Common in front of her two-year-old son. Rachel Nickell was stabbed 49 times and sexually assaulted in a crime that shocked the nation. This is a story of a flawed investigation into Rachel’s death, a story that saw an innocent man persecuted after a botched police undercover operation. It was to take the police 16 years to convict her real killer, Robert Napper. (Murder Cases: Napper & Miscarriages of Justice: Stagg) Real Crime [with Mark Austin] s8e2: Rachel Nickell: Case Closed, ITV 2008
His victims were invariably women with their children. ibid.
Police had recovered DNA from three of the victims. ibid.
In the early 1990s south-east London was held in the grip of a serial rapist. The savage stalker was particular about his prey. As the violence intensified, his mind would turn to murder. But were these heinous crimes his destiny: was he born to kill? Born to Kill? s6e1: Robert Napper, CI 2017
The 27-year-old was a doting mum. ibid.
This unusual behaviour [at school] would make him an easy target. ibid.
His life had become increasingly isolated. ibid.
But one July morning in 1992 the peaceful family-friendly atmosphere was shattered by the discovery of the body of young mother Rachel Nickell. ibid.
The campaign of terror would become increasingly violent. ibid.
‘Police are appealing for witnesses after the brutal murder of a young mother in a south London park.’ Rachel Nickell: The Untold Story, news, ITV 2018
The murder of Rachel Nickell 25 years ago appalled the nation. ibid.
While the press hounded Colin [Stagg], serial killer Robert Napper roamed free and murdered again. ibid.
‘Police say the terrified son saw his mother being murdered.’ ibid. news
An astonishingly misguided police honey trap. ibid.
It would take 14 years before the police would finally identify the real killer and realise he could been stopped from killing again. ibid.
15th July 1992, London, England: On a summer morning 23-year-old Rachel Nickell was walking her dog Molly across Wimbledon Common with her 2-year-old son Alex. A man appeared from the undergrowth stabbing Rachel nearly 50 times then sexually assaulting her. Britain’s Most Evil Killers s4e7: Robert Napper, Sky Crime 2020
The depraved killer was 26-year-old Robert Napper. 16 months later he would strike again. ibid.
‘Police are appealing for witnesses after the murder of a young mother in a South London park. The body of the woman who was attacked in broad daylight was discovered on Wimbledon Common this morning. Her throat had been cut and it is thought she’d been sexually assaulted. Her two-year-old son was found clinging to her body.’ Death on the Common: My Mother’s Murder, news report, Channel 4 2021
‘And I said, Wake up Mummy, one more time, and she didn’t respond.’ ibid. son
A notorious murder on Wimbledon Common went undetected for more than a decade. How did groundbreaking forensics track down a serial rapist and killer who showed his victims no mercy. Cold Case Forensics: The Murder of Rachel Nickell, ITV 2023
The body of 23-year-old Rachel Nickell was viciously attacked and sexually assaulted while walking with her two-year-old son and pet dog. ibid.
So what had gone wrong, and could it have caused the police to miss the real killer? ibid.
For the first time two DNA profiles started to show up. ibid.
This groundbreaking work was to become known as DNA enhancement. And it was to be a gamechanger. ibid.
NARDO, ERIKA DE & MAURO FAVARO: Crime Stories TV -
February 21 2001: police in Italy investigate the scene of a brutal double murder. Within hours angry protesters demand justice: it soon becomes one of the country’s most infamous crimes. Crime Stories s7e7: The Slaying Sweethearts, Really 2017
Erika soon gives police a step by step account of the attack … allegedly committed by two Albanian men. ibid.
Erika’s behaviour since the night of the crime has also aroused suspicion … Erika and her boyfriend are now prime suspects. ibid.
NASEEM, ZAHID: Faking It: Tears of a Crime TV -
26th May 2018: Police mount an urgent search for a 29-year-old woman. Hours earlier, Christina Abbots had missed a long-awaited get-together leaving her family to fear the worst. Faking It: Tears of a Crime s5e6: The Speargun Killer, Discovery 2021
In an adjoining room an apparently unconscious middle-aged man wearing only a dressing-gown. ibid.
He’s half naked and he’s locked in a flat from the inside that doesn’t belong to him and Christina’s body is in the bedroom next door. ibid.
The man was Zahid Naseem, a 47-year-old father of two, who lived 60 miles away in Buckinghamshire. ibid.
NASI, FADI et al: Real Crime [with Mark Austin] TV - The Telegraph online - Faking It: Tears of a Crime TV -
Death on the doorstep: a special police constable [Nisha Patel-Nasri] killed in cold blood. What first looked like a burglary gone wrong became a tale of murder for hire. Real Crime [with Mark Austin] s7e6: A Very Special Constable, ITV 2008
The spring of 2006 ... May 11th police received reports of a stabbing in a quiet residential street. ibid.
Killed by a single knife wound to the groin. ibid.
The key was Fadi’s [husband] mobile phone ... One officer stumbled across some intriguing photographs. ibid.
When Nisha first met him, Fadi was running Seventh Heaven from his mobile phone with girls working from his one-bedroom flat. ibid.
Fadi had paid Roger Leslie to organise the murder of his wife. Leslie in turn had hired hit-man Jason Jones to do the actual killing. ibid.
After a three month Old Bailey trial, Nasri was convicted of murdering special constable Nisha Patel-Nasri after starting an affair with a Lithuanian prostitute.
The court heard that Nasri gave his front door keys to the killer before leaving his wife alone in their house in Wembley, north London. The Telegraph online article 28th May 2008
Death on the doorstep: a special police constable stabbed and a husband suspected. Were his television appeals genuine or was he faking it? Faking It: Tears of a Crime s2e7, Discovery 2017
London, June 2006: her name Nisha Patel-Nasri … In 2003 she married Fadi Nasri, a businessman seven years her senior. ibid.
Fadi Nasri went on to make further public appeals. ibid.
They were convinced he’d hired a hit squad to murder Nisha. ibid.