The Murder of Riches Obi – Sham Marriages, Real Consequences

After a slightly chaotic opening involving anxiety spirals, pocket-based trouser strategy, and a traumatic passport photo, things quickly turn grim as we cover the brutal 2020 murder of 25-year-old Riches Obie in Elephant & Castle.

He had no criminal past. No enemies. Just a quiet life with his mum — until he was fatally stabbed in their flat.

Was it a robbery gone wrong? Or the fallout of a sham marriage scam involving immigration paperwork, money, and three Dutch nationals with links to international crime? Why did his mum flee to Nigeria and refuse to testify? And why did his sister step over his dying body to collect a suitcase?

A tragic, messy case. With more questions than answers.

Sources in this case include

https://news.sky.com/story/man-stabbed-former-associate-to-death-in-london-flat-then-held-his-mother-captive-after-sham-marriage-scam-row-13144561  https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/riches-obi-bernadette-ortet-murder-b2552537.html https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/24448307.three-jailed-elephant-castle-marriage-scam-killing/
 https://www.23es.com/convictions-in-jennifer-knight-kcs-marriage-scam-murder/  https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fake-groom-jailed-life-murder-113911901.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAH9ELC3qels5RAIWjg80HMlMqjTbgem4IRi-bEIuNtCvwdUMK0taNjPuWoDd1lU7-t3nnmcyQAUzwEF4PynSkb7R-SxfssrHlhWGNIpWoULTYNV6G25EdcNSvn7zqe30QDhI1k9PJFcs3J-f-CbYe1RGC2JD_uzfZeZwmoIl3665  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13267985/dutch-trio-bound-gagged-marriage-scheme.html
https://totalcrime.substack.com/p/i-stepped-over-my-brothers-body-to  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13627949/Killer-bound-gagged-legal-executive-stabbed-son-death-didnt-pay-sham-marriage-scam-jailed-30-years.html
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powers-and-operational-procedure/marriage-investigations-accessible#:~:text=Section%2024%20duty%20to%20report,registering%20a%20birth%20or%20death. 

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• 31:08 (Cont.) The Murder of Riches Obi – Sham Marriages, Real Consequences

Transcript

Ep 22 - Riches Obe

Hello, I'm Rachel, I'm Hannah, and this is the Sinister South podcast, a podcast all about the sinister Ongoings in the south of London. There you go. That's as much as you're getting from me today.

Bing bang bosh Done. Does what it says on the tin. Yep.

Yep Trevor's you join us in a state of quite low energy I'm on the verge of a breakdown. Yep. Rachel's in an anxiety spiral Yeah, I Want to dye my hair.

Yeah, she's a sure sign that things aren't well in my brain And I'm wearing three different pairs of trousers all at once It's not even a lie I have shorts on I have leggings on then I have tracksuit bottoms on as well Do you want to tell the Trevor's why? Because I had the shorts on then I was cold So I put leggings on and then I needed pockets when I went on my walk So I put my tracksuit buttons on at no point because my brain is so overwhelmed and overloaded and just full At no point. Did I consider taking a pair of trousers off? Before I put another one on I was just I need pockets put these on these got pockets. Okay now we walk fine I can't help but say I am reminded of the day We went to a co-working space and you came out the bathroom going All that time I thought I was having a panic attack it turned out my bra was too tight as soon as I As soon as I release the straps some more I could breathe again funny that Nope Just suffocating yourself babes.

I love giving yourself a very own crush injury I Almost as good at the time that I went to a client meeting wearing my daughter's tights So why is he so uncomfortable because they're designed for a seven-year-old Dear yeah, it's I don't really know what's happened But something has seemed to have gone twang in both. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah like in I Walk.

Yeah I Just can't have another job. No, I can't do that. I'm at capacity.

That's it. Yeah, I'm at capacity completely Yeah, and I was just I was trying to explain Did you ever see Gary Neville being interviewed by Stephen Bartlett on that? I oversee. No, I have not when he describes mini retirements So he used to have In his career.

Yeah, he would have mini retirements where he didn't work for three to four days or maybe Seven days, so he's describing it as I and Stephen but it's all serious, you know, yeah Yeah, you know, yeah, I would take in a series of mini just weekends That's just the weekend or a holiday Describing the process of annual leave I Feel like that. Yeah, I was talking to Richard the other night and I was trying to talk about Going on holiday and I just couldn't like Process I was just like I just need to I just want to lay down You wanna go on a holiday yeah We often have spoken about how we both got like ideas of these big sports sprawling Adventures, you know do and like would go to every big major town in Ireland Yeah, I do that and blah blah blah like kind of I want to go to Vesuvius Yeah, that kind of thing and I just couldn't I was like, no No, I don't wanna go on holiday. I just want to lay down You want to go on an all-inclusive holiday But that is what that is what you need It's alright I I felt very similar yesterday when I had to do it was a really nice thing So like the kids had their friends over Saturday night sleepover.

They were all good as gold Like it was it was really lovely. They all played together. It was all very nice They went to bed late, but it wasn't insane.

It was all fine, but Because I was in charge of the house with four small people in it I Couldn't really sleep because I kept like listening out for the fact that they weren't my kids So I was just like and the fact that we had two of them sleeping downstairs because they wanted to be all cool and grown Up and so I'm like, I'm trying to like listen out for them anyway, I had a really shit night's sleep could not sleep at all Sunday rolls around and we were invited to a birthday party a barbecue birthday party and Will said to me what time do you want to go? And I just looked at him and went I don't I just I don't it's what you mean. I was like, it's not that I don't want to go and celebrate the birthday It's not that I don't want to go and see the people. I'm happy to be around I just I just don't want to move.

I don't want to talk to them. I don't want to talk to them I don't want to look at anyone. I want to stare into the middle distance With a slightly dazed expression and just be I opened the fridge Before I went on my walk today to think because I've walked past the car up on my way back And I thought do I need to stop for anything? Yeah, because I'll be really annoyed at myself if I don't yeah, like well I Stared in the fridge close the fridge and left.

I have no idea what's in my fridge Got no idea what I needed or if I did if I needed anything I just stared at it for a while and then went yep cool looked at that And off I went I Also, I hit just a string of my brain failing. Yeah, but on the Finished work. Yeah had a had a breakdown.

Yeah, um Finished work was like, okay Put everything in a pile that I needed to bring with me. Yeah, I was like, okay laptop my phone. There's the car keys Thank fuck.

I'd put the car keys in said pockets because trousers have pockets. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah Third pair have pockets Thank God I put them in that I just left everything on the floor by the front door and then just left the house Got to the car. Oh, nope. Okay.

I know I put the stuff in the park as I need it. Yeah Fine May it's not good, but What color are you thinking of dying? Are we going pink as is the use or are we thinking something else? I mean the thing is that it's terrible because I'm the worst person because whenever you are having a mental breakdown and you want to die Yeah, I encourage it because I like that or a face tattoo. We're not getting a face tattoo.

We're not no I'm not doing that. No Spencer Need to let me know Yeah, no, I always do encourage you I'm like yeah do it so how you should do it I don't know that that's not healthy and I should be a better friend. I do like you pink The problem is that you do it that you do pink and then about two weeks later when you're feeling slightly more mentally robust Yeah, yeah, I should definitely wait and until a different phase of my cycle.

Yeah I think that might I think that might be good for you Hundred-percent should not do it but Good, but you could I desperately need to die because the roots My roots are like insane I had to do that bloody awful thing, right Here we go You know when you get those really irritating letters that come for your door and they're in brown envelopes The moment it's in a fucking brown envelope, it's not anything you want to open or look at it's either a bill a fine for something where you haven't realized that you've gone the wrong way on a fucking no entry part of the road or Like it's something it's always bad news. Anyway, mine rocks up and it was a double whammy about me Oh, no, so it was from the DVLA. Oh, no, and for any American listeners, that is Like what do they call it the? DMV yes.

Yeah, so the DVLA is ours and First of all, it was just the fucking life admin that was involved in it. I my my driver's license needs to be renewed Okay, right Not only do I have to deal with the admin of it They had to point out to me very clearly That my driver's license that I currently have is 10 years old. Yes, which just made me go.

Oh Holy fuck How how have I been Rachel Baines because that was the last time I changed my driver's license is when I changed my name How have I been Rachel Baines for 10 years? That's ridiculous. What are you talking about? That is ridiculous so I got over the shock of being very old and And then went to take like saw it all out and they were like, oh, do you want to use the photo from your passport? No It's the answer The fact that that photo is in my passport is enough. It's I mean, thank God I've got a renew that next year because it is horrific.

I remember going to get that fucking passport photo done I had to turn up and it was one of these days. So like full disclosure Trevor's I've got one eye that is slightly larger than the other. Okay, it's because I've got we all do everything that comes in pairs One's bigger than the other.

Yes, but like mine mine is like so it's not the the eye probably is bigger But anyway, it's like I've got a hooded eyelid One of them is slightly longer than the other so it droops a little bit and it looks like I've got a lazy eye I don't have a lazy eye. I just have one that's slightly smaller than the other and sometimes Sometimes I Can style that out and no one would ever know and it's all fine and lovely and usually because I'm wearing glasses It doesn't it's not as obvious You go to the fucking passport office and they tell you no, you can't have those glasses on You're gonna have to take those glasses off and you're gonna have to take a photo Well, when I take my glasses off everything is fucking blurry And then I'm trying to take a photo where I'm not smiling My face when I'm not smiling just looks so pissed off And then this particular day of the passport photo picture the lazy. I was out in force She was not mucking around.

I burst into tears When I saw how hideous this photo was It was just like What I know I had to get it done because I was going away with work and I had so it's like a rush job I know the rest of it and I was like, I've already spent as well They cost fucking 8 quid every time you get a bloody passport photo done in the booths So it already cost me like I'd done two lots. I'd binned because they were that bad This was the best of a bad bunch. I will put the photo on Instagram I've been there just crying So then when the DVLA said do you want to use your passport photo, fuck off, absolutely not cybercrime So then I'm sat and it's like right.

You've got to find a white background my house Trevor's. There's no white And it has to be a white flat solid flat background. So I couldn't do it in here in the tiny shed Well, we've got white walls So the only place that I've got in my house as a little bit of white is the bottom of my hallway You sat on the floor I was sat on the floor not only was I sat on the floor Huh, I was slouched on the floor because I'm too tall and the picture rails there and you're not allowed to have shadow on your face or shadow behind you or shadow anyway, why don't you just come to mine because I didn't my multiple white wall because I didn't think about it and Slouching my skills as a photographer and the fact that I don't hate you Because I apparently thought the slouching Have you ever done that thing, you know They tell you to put your phone your camp selfie camera on then put your phone on the floor then lean over I Haven't done it.

I don't I don't do it. Jesus Christ. Don't do it today Absolutely not But yeah, and after all of that after I'd done the little folded up gremlin photo and like was like that one's alright Um, I got a notification today Sorry, we've had to disregard you.

Yeah, because you were laying on the fucking ground No, do you know why because there is and I quote a slight shadow behind your head Gonna go on a mini retirement. Yeah, I Had a mini retirement from all the things that were annoying me before that one and now I need another one apparently Open the door. It's very warm.

Yeah, it's really hot in here God Fucking hell, so I don't even think we need to do the whole. How are you? It would be really interesting to Listen back to this podcast. Yeah And then work out one when we stopped having any pretense about you know Hi guys, welcome to the podcast like when it was just like you're right Are you not entertained But also to Pick up on any pattern of like if it literally is Oh every three and a half weeks Hannah loses her mind and if I could use that as evidence when I go to the doctor to be like Something is chemically wrong with me Okay You just sort the shit out I've got the receipts because I cannot spend Like ten days out of every thirty feeling like I'm being hunted by some kind of invisible monster.

Yeah, like no Turns out the monsters It's me Slithering about on the ground Did I say on here about Because I had to take a week off You slithering around on the floor, oh maybe we should get up I Get them for fuck's sake with 36 we are 36. It's all down here from here. It's all done here for me Wow well, so well, so so In keeping yes with the Insanity theme.

Yes, but I've lost my marbles when it comes to this case, too Okay. Okay, so it's the second time of this is what you're about to hear is the third iteration of me writing this and Halfway through the second I had determined it's gonna be a patreon case Yeah, because it's not enough and I'm scrabbling around and I'm trying to make an already verbose sentence Even fucking longer. Yeah, just to try and you know, put it together.

Yeah I'm just that's it. I'm gonna I'm calling it quits And then I found a sub stack And I joined the sub stack I'm a paid member of this sub stack Oh And well, there's some pretty juicy details, oh I see so in Direct Conflict with how I usually approach researching these cases. Yes.

Yes. Yes. I'm just gonna stay say at the start Allegedly.

Yeah, perhaps Potentially, I don't know maybe I didn't say it he did What else do I need to say just along those lines? Yeah, some of this could be fabricated. Yeah. Yeah, but God it made it more juicy No in all seriousness, I don't know this man's credentials, but yeah, he does seem to know what he's talking about.

Yeah, and Yes, his work is behind a paywall But I've paid for it and I haven't plagiarized I'm just That's your son. Yeah, there's some source material in there that he's done some groundwork that I couldn't possibly have done Yeah, exactly So while the basic bones of the story are publicly available and what is reported there are some flourishes and I've decided to suspend usual protocol protocol to include I mean at the end of the day the way I see it is that like You can go to a reputable news source and still get some of that wrong. So it's a bit like yeah Yeah I'm with you.

I'm I'm ready for it. Okay, I'm ready Elephant and Castle in South London's borough of Southwark is a place of contradictions Historically vibrant yet plagued by socio-economic struggles. It has long been a melting pot of cultures communities and complexities At his heart stands a network of bustling markets densely populated housing estates and a kaleidoscope of languages and customs Illustrating both the promise and challenges faced by those who call this place home The area's landscape has undergone waves of regeneration Yet beneath this veneer of urban renewal linger persistent issues of poverty crime and exploitation It was within this dynamic and often challenging environment in November of 2020 that a quiet flat in Bramwell House became the site of a brutal killing The victim was 25 year old riches OB a young man with no criminal record No, no, no known enemies and no real reason to die His mother Bernadette or TEP was found bound and gagged in her bedroom traumatized and silent The crime appeared at first glance to be a robbery gone wrong but the truth when it began to emerge pointed towards something much murkier a sham marriage operation Foreign nationals trying to cash in on immigration loopholes before brexit closed the door this is a story of greed violence and betrayal, but it's also a story about the people behind the headlines a Mother trying to make a life and a son trying to protect her So very quick straight out the gate side quest for you.

Excellent marriage scams. Love it The idea of a sham marriage might conjure up images of staged wedding photos and awkward interviews with immigration officers But the reality is darker and far more organized in the UK Sham marriages are defined as unions entered into for the primary purpose of circumventing immigration rules These aren't casual agreements between friends. They're big business Organized crime groups match desperate individuals seeking UK residency with EU nationals who are willing or coerced into marrying them for a fee Sometimes the spouses have never met.

Sometimes they don't even speak the same language One thing I did find is that Sham or scam marriage scam sham marriages or marriage scams aren't widely reported on Officially The statistics I found and I've put some in but are from the last big report into it, which was in 2013 So we're probably do one. Yeah, or I don't know. There was a whole other thing.

I kind of got into a bit of a rabbit hole about Reading this report, which I thought was an official government report and it turns out it wasn't it's written by a group of general public People that have come together to write this. I only noticed when I started to see the word foreigner banded around quite a lot I was like, hang on a minute This doesn't sound correct. I'm gonna stop reading this now So a 2013 Home Office report estimated that between 4,000 to 10,000 Immigration applications per year were based on sham marriages Wow by 2012 slash 13 over 5,700 suspected cases were logged And then after a crackdown in 2015 any couple involving a non EEA National automatically had their marriage referred to the Home Office for further investigation But the gap the scams didn't stop.

They just adapted The setup usually goes like this a broker finds an EU national willing to marry a non EEA citizen often from Nigeria Pakistan or by Bangladesh a price is agreed anywhere between 2,000 and 15,000 pounds might change hands Legal paperwork is doctored witnesses are coached and occasionally real immigration caseworkers get involved Sometimes willingly and sometimes under duress, right? So back to the case Bernadette or TEP wasn't high-profile. She wasn't rich. She didn't have a history of violence or a string of dodgy connections She worked as an immigration caseworker For a solicitor's firm quietly processing paperwork for clients trying to stay in the UK legally She was originally from Nigeria But I built a life here in London with her children riches and his older sister Olive By all accounts Bernadette was driven.

She'd spent years trying to secure not just her future, but that of her children It's therefore not hard to imagine how someone in in her position Exhausted underpaid and working with vulnerable clients might have been drawn into something on the edge of legality Whether that's what happened here is still up for debate, right? Okay Some say Bernadette was running a side hustle Arranging sham marriages for cash a way to get clients immigration status in exchange for a tidy fee Others say she was being used pressured maybe even coerced by the very people who would later tie her up and murder her son Wow Bernadette herself has denied any wrongdoing. She insists that she was just doing her job that she was never involved in any scam and After the attack, but after the attack, she left the UK altogether Returned to Nigeria and refused to testify. Oh Rich's OB was her son 25 years old 6 foot 2 clever calm and protective of his mum He wasn't a gangster He wasn't in trouble and yet he was the one found bleeding to death in the hallway of their flat on the 17th of November his only mistake being there getting in the way and At the edges of this story a trio of names would soon become very familiar to detectives juric crows Rachel Philomena and Suvenka Martis all Dutch nationals all connected.

It seemed to imagine to a marriage scam gone sour Crows first arrived in the UK from the Netherlands in the mid 2010s He moved between London and various parts of Europe But by 2020 he was embedded in a network of immigration fixes brokers and criminal associates operating in and around South London what most Kind of he was reported to be really charismatic right and quite charming But what most didn't see or chose to ignore was his much darker side This might sound like a random jump here, but I promise it makes sense Colombian authorities would later describe him as a key figure in laundering money through cryptocurrency and as someone with direct ties to international drug syndicates In fact, he was said to have tested the purity of cocaine for criminal criminal groups in a region of Colombia In one of the main drug producing zones of the world The group he reportedly worked with was led by a shadowy figure referred to only as now It's Senora Ciro. Okay, but I've also seen Senora a right or Senora, so I some said it But it's this shadowy figure is a woman right others refer to them as a man, right? I don't know. I quite like the idea of it being a woman.

Yeah Hey, hey Who knows? So after the murder of riches OB crows fled the UK it wasn't long before police learnt he had escaped to Colombia And he had then effectively disappeared into the underworld But he was eventually captured okay, and he was extradited back to the UK in 2023 And crows return was seen as a breakthrough But police barred from interviewing him Owing to strict rules tied to the extradition agreement Under the conditions agreed between the UK and Colombian authorities any questioning by British police post extra Extradition was explicitly prohibited This meant that once in the UK crows was handed directly to the judicial process without a formal police interview His first opportunity to speak about the case came in court where he would eventually take the stand Facing cross-examination in a language that was not his mother tongue for investigators It was an unusual and frustrating limitation a murder suspect who had never been questioned Stepping into the dock without a single recorded interview in the UK system That is bonkers. Isn't it mad? So I know I'm jumping around a bit here like spoiler alert It goes to trial. Yeah, but I haven't even told you what happened yet.

Yeah, but I just thought that was really interesting Fascinating. I think I am pronouncing it Rachel. Okay, because why not? It's our a I Chell, I would say Rachel.

Yeah fella Mina Is a man Rachel is a man. Okay, and so Venka Martis were also from the same region of the Netherlands as crows The three of them used to use their native dialect Hanna Papi a mento. Oh, wow to communicate coded and confusing even to official translators Martis emerged ran an escort agency in the Netherlands called Miami Dolls Richard's probably been So Martis Dropped crows and fella Mina near the estate on the morning of the murder and picked them up afterwards driving to driving them to a train station where they then disappeared and then the Next or the last thing the police knew is that they'd both got on a boat to Holland All three were accused of being part of a criminal network capitalizing on post brexit uncertainty Among the documents found in Bernadette's flat were ID records marriage applications and payment agreements Some were in crows and fella Mina's names But whether that meant Bernadette was the mastermind or the middle woman or a pawn we still don't know.

So The build-up to the attack wasn't subtle there had been threats bailed at first. They're more direct Bernadette later told a journalist that one of the men had been calling her in the days before Pressing her about paperwork payment and money. She didn't take it seriously at first But she knew something had shifted on the morning of the 17th of November 2020 just after 11 a.m Two men entered Bramwell house on the Rockingham estate CC CCTV showed them approaching the foot on the approaching the building on foot not approaching the foot on building They weren't in a rush Jurek crows and Rachel for Mina had been dropped off nearby by Martis who then stayed in the car Inside the flat riches had just woken up his mother had worked through the night and gone to bed in the early hours Before she turned in she'd taken some jollof rice and smoked turkey out of the freezer her son's favorite meal What happened next unfolded in minutes Rich's opened the door.

There was an exchange possibly about one of Bernadette's immigration cases kind of then there was just violence and a struggle broke out and Seemingly went from the hall back into riches bedroom. Okay. I mean he was six foot two He was strong and it was obvious that he'd tried to fight them off, but crows had come prepared Bernadette Bernadette was woken by the noise Opened her door to her daughter seeing her son being attacked She ran to get her phone, but crows followed her cornering her in her bedroom.

He was armed with a knife She later described how he tried to suffocate her with a pillow demanding money He tied her up with cable ties and duct tape blindfolded her and ransacked the room At one point crows video called someone likely Martis we think again, this is all a bit Yeah, and said there's no money and her son is dying and then they left Bernadette managed to wiggle a hand free apparently, but instead of calling 999. She phoned her daughter Olive in a panic Olive was heavily pregnant but arrived at the flat pretty quickly and according to Some sketchy reporting and some Evidential reporting from the court records. She was there for less than six minutes.

Oh, okay She later claimed that she thought her brother was just unconscious That he'd been in a fight and she was due to get married and a lot of her Wedding clothes were in a suitcase at her mom's house, right? Some say her wedding dress was there But all that is known is that she picked up a suitcase and left Oh 1112 the first emergency call came in made by a man in Amsterdam whose partner had been on the phone with Bernadette Olive then made a second call after that Hang on. So someone in Holland. Yeah or the Netherlands.

Sorry someone in Amsterdam Has called the police because apparently they were on the phone with Bernadette when this started right and I've obviously heard commotion and Then she's who's turned up at the house got a suitcase seen her brother unconscious. Just assumes he's just sleeping I mean one of the headlines is that I stepped over my brother's dead body to get my wedding dress. Oh But I don't again Salacious, but I don't know This all could be you know, it could be very unfair to them or they both could be Who they are, yeah So when a police when the police arrived the front door was ajar Rich's was laying in the hallway Barely breathing come and there was blood covering the walls.

It was everywhere. It was like a massacre And Bernadette was still tied up Obviously the killers were long gone the scene and that met off that met police officers at Bramwell house was nothing short of chaotic Blood soaked the hallway smeared across walls and skirting boards Rich's was barely alive. His mother was found in her bedroom bound with cable ties and visibly traumatized The flat was in disarray evidence of a frantic search, but amid the horror detectives also found something very useful The tape and cable ties used to restrain Bernadette hadn't all been used Some were still in their original packaging and crucially the receipt had been left behind It traced the items back to a hardware shop in Camberwell CCTV from that shop showed Suvanka Martis making the purchase Police I don't quickly identified her vehicle and a NPR footage Linking her to the journey to and from the crime scene within two weeks on the In December, sorry Martis was arrested But the two men Had already fled Crows and Felimena were last seen boarding a ferry to the Netherlands crows then vanished entirely Slipping through the cracks of international policing and it would take more than a year to finally track him to Colombia But so at that point the focus just completely zoned in on Martis Yeah in her interview Martis admitted she'd driven the men to and from the scene but denied any knowledge of what they'd planned Her phone data paint her phone data, however painted a very different story texts between her and the men written in Papiamento Hinted at coordination, but the translations were disputed What one linguist called instructions another labeled casual chatter, right? It complicated the case completely.

Hmm So actually probably very smart Meanwhile British police pushed for EU arrest warrants Felimena was located in the Netherlands in mid 2000 2021 and extradited the following year crows, however wouldn't be brought back into the UK until December 2023 Back in London investigators finally got permission to go through all the legal documents found at Bernadette's flat Among them were immigration forms Dutch IDs and paperwork bearing the names of both crows and Felimena It suggested that this wasn't random it wasn't a burglary gone wrong and that there were hard ties to Bernadette's work whether that was real or forged or part of the scam or they were legitimately trying to get immigration status and She should she have taken her work home with her. Yeah Yeah, Bernadette herself wasn't offering much clarity After giving an initial statement, she returned to Nigeria and declined to testify further Her daughter Olive to refused to appear in court Detectives found themselves in an uncomfortable position a building a murder case without the cooperation of the only two people to have survived it Still the evidence was strong blood traces linked both men to the flat phone records placed all three defendants in the area and the violent Method of restraint matched items purchased just hours before the killing So the CPS decided to proceed and in spring of 2023 the first trial began, okay The trial process was complex delayed by extradition Extradition logistics say that quick Language barriers, which I have and the absence of two key witnesses. So yeah again, I've put in again Sorry being repetitive but Bernadette remained in Nigeria refused to return refused to give an official statement even Like even from Nigeria and Olive then moved to the u.s Although she does claim later to have never been approached by the UK police, right? That left the prosecution to build their case using forensic evidence the CCTV footage and a tangled web of translated text messages So in the first trial Suvenka Martis and Rachel Philomena sat in the dock Crozier still in Colombia both defendants pointed the finger at him Claiming they had no knowledge of his plan to use violence Martis barrister argued that she had simply been the driver Philomena told the court the crows was more muscular the dominant figure and that he had only gone along to sign some paperwork related to his marriage Okay, and hand over his ID in exchange for money.

Oh That's what he told the court, right Okay The trial completely unraveled when Martis announced she sacked her legal team. Oh With no choice but to abandon proceedings the court set in a date for a new trial Meanwhile crows was extradited from Colombia, right? So the second trial began in April of 24 at the Old Bailey this time all three stood trial together Crows surprised the courtroom by taking the stand Speaking mainly in Spanish with Mona moments of heavily accented English. He denied all charges Repeatedly referred.

Sorry. I'm laughing but he also repeatedly referred to prosecute Prosecutor Jennifer Knight Casey as mama. Oh, which was a mistranslation of ma'am.

Oh Oh His performance swung between dramatic and incoherent at times. He was shouting at other times He was breaking down, but the jury were not taken in by any of it Yeah He claimed he'd been offered fifty thousand pounds for the sham marriage and that the meeting at Bernadette's flat was simply to discuss the final Payment he denied tying her up or stabbing riches But his blood was found on the duct tape and cable ties used to restrain her and in the flat in general Martis and Felimena declined to give evidence this time Their silence left the burden of explanation to crows who quickly unraveled under cross-examination. Yeah So the jury deliberated I read in one place for 37 hours.

Okay But they returned their verdicts in May of 2024 Jurek Crows was found guilty of murder and false imprisonment Felimena and Martis were acquitted of murder but convicted of false imprisonment Martis was also convicted of perverting the course of justice, right? at sentencing in July of 24 Judge Nicole Lickley Casey Sorry, Nicole Nigel Hannah At sentencing in July Judge Nigel Lickley Casey described the killing as a direct consequence of your criminal plan He told crows Riches was defenseless and you carried on stabbing him. Even when he has back turned to you Crows received life imprisonment with a minimum term of 30 years Martis was jailed for 11 years and six months Felimena for seven years and six months. All three will be deported after serving their sentences good Wow, you go Wow So yeah The patreon version of that case would have been She worked at solicitors she may or may not have been involved in something.

Yeah, her son was staying with her He shouldn't like yeah, he had absolutely nothing to do with anything These men break in damage stabbed him Wow But I just thought there was some interesting. That's a really interesting bits in there allegedly allegedly perhaps but possibly Maybe I'm just interested the thing that's kind of like That caught my attention when you first mentioned it and it's kind of just been sat there in my head listening Well, I've been listening to you was the fact that It's all about sham marriages and then Olive is getting married And her wedding dress may or may not have been there in the house Who was Olive marrying? Very little known about her. I don't know.

Oh, really Could well be a completely legitimate Why Interesting and then she buggers off to the US and she was really heavily pregnant at the time as well. Oh Yay She yeah the Substack. Yeah, like so he Supposedly has spoken to both Bernadette and Olive right? Okay, and some of this is their account.

Oh, oh Oh Okay. In fact the quote I stepped over my brother's body to get my wedding clothes Comes from Olive herself. Oh Okay, there's something allegedly there's something going on.

It just all feels very like Thank God the police and the CPS were able to pull together enough of a case to get these people behind bars because the end of the Day, they fucking murdered an incident. Yeah, and I don't want to be jovial about which is death. No, it's fucking horrible.

Yeah and For all intents purposes like I believe he was a data analyst like he had a good career you know people said he was ambitious and Funny and kind, you know, yeah wonderful, man Young man 25 like so I don't want that to get lost but there's just so much here that Potentially could have happened. Yeah, and like why I suppose the police had enough of a case to convict well, there was enough of a case to convict the murderer murderer and the other two without then To me, it just seems like there's a case to answer and that Bernadette knows that if she'd come home Or come home if she'd if she'd stayed in the UK Yeah, I don't know where she calls home that I wasn't being no no no gammon about that. Yeah, sorry, but But if she'd stayed in the UK She probably would have got in trouble herself.

There would have been something going on. So is there a bit of a Yeah, okay. I'm not gonna be able to testify to get justice for my son, but I'm gonna protect myself Yeah it feels it's also very like And I know that that sentence is quite Sensationalist and all the rest of it around there like I stepped over my brother but it's like If she at first thought that he was just unconscious Why would she be saying I stepped over his body? And why wasn't it? Just I stepped over him and then the second thing is your brother brother is on the floor Not responding don't maybe don't step over him to get your wedding dress, right? Well, maybe don't wait until you've left to ring 999 I just have some randomer in Amsterdam do it first.

I have some randomer in Amsterdam do it first Step over even though Bernadette was in bed Yeah, and you've stepped over the body of your brother Your mom is tied up, but you're just gonna go even though you had nothing to do with sham marriages or any of these scams No, yeah, you had these people's these men's documents in your flat Yeah at your home not at your office where you worked. Yeah. Yeah Oh, there's so many things on said in this one, isn't there? Allegedly allegedly allegedly obviously Wow.

Oh It's really interesting. Yeah, I like I Mean, I'm tired shit. I don't usually pay for anything.

Yeah, but I was like, okay fine. I will pay for your substack That's very Wow That his handle is at total crime, okay, his name is Chris Summers I don't I'm a bit scared to call him out because what if he's I don't know if he's real or not I don't know. I don't know.

I don't know Look as I say you can get information from Quote-unquote legitimate sources. I mean one of them is still the daily fucking mail. Yeah, exactly It's like, you know, I think it's There's obviously something In it for him to be able to write about.

I don't know. There's just there's more There's more to this story than we will ever know. Yeah, isn't there? Yeah, I know it is one of those that like She's never gonna know like why would you know, would you like purposefully come back somewhere? You know, you're gonna get in trouble But the thing that I find really interesting about it is that it's like so I just can't work out what the I Can't really work out the motive I'll tell you this is completely my own opinion.

Yes, this isn't based on Nothing, but my own brain. Yes, okay She was arranging crows to marry and Philomena, yeah to marry Different Nigerian women. Yeah that she knew she was Orchestrating all of this using her position.

Yeah to help solidify and validate these documents. Yeah They thought she's the fucking ringleader here she's gonna have hundreds of thousands of pounds in her flat They've gone. Well, look we might as well try and turn him over Yeah, didn't expect riches to be there because he had nothing to do with anything.

So I probably didn't even know he existed Yeah, they've got surprised they brought a knife to it to the intimidate to intimidate her to get the money That's why the flat was absolutely turned upside down. That's why I'm so chaotic I and he's been an I'm really fucking unfortunate by-product of them thinking We'll go and get all this and whether that whether it was that because originally I thought they were The orchestrators of the EU nationals. Yeah Marrying and she was the non EU nationals like part of the marriage scam and like that's what their connection was Yeah, but then their documents.

Yeah, it's Unless she had them as collateral Potentially protect herself in some way like oh, I've got your ID documents. I don't fuck with me kind of thing Yeah, and that could have spurred them on even more. I don't know this again Surin yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, but no, I think you're right. There's there's definitely something in that and I think that that would make sense if it was a case of like Actually, she's probably got more money than she's paying us in that flat.

Let's go in. Let's go and get it Wow Oh, it's fascinating. Mm-hmm, but poor riches, right? He was just completely innocent.

Yeah I'm from everything. I'd write a night. That's even my gut reaction.

Yeah Alright, my supposition. Yeah, based on everything is this he was just He just existed. Yeah wrong place wrong time Yeah, because it's interesting that like they've they've obviously killed him.

They've stabbed him Because he was more of a threat whereas she has just been tied up because she knew where the money was. Yeah But it's just I'm just I still cannot allegedly get olive out of my head I I just in what world we've both got brothers. Yeah in what fucking world.

Do you come home or do you get called by? your mum, yeah There's been whatever she said. Yeah, there's been an emergency. I need you.

I'm like everything Seedy that I read it was like that. The call was really like Mumbled and yeah part in English part not like yeah and all of this So you get that call from your mom you walk in there's blood everywhere You see your brother on the floor on the floor They're not even you see your mum tied up exactly still. Yeah And you think Hmm, I better get my wedding dress.

It's just and I better leave And then I better move to the u.s. It's insane. What there is so much and if there is an innocent explanation like We've got an email address. I would love to hear it.

I would love to hear the Yeah, because you're right because allegedly it's it's all It's all so sus six minutes you're in there Yeah, and all you do is pick up a suitcase that may or may not have had your wedding dress in it and leave Unless there's something else in that suitcase Or unless Bernadette was never tied up by them. Although they did buy the stuff. They did buy the stuff.

Yeah But I don't know how you Wiggle your hand free, but then to make a phone call, but not untie yourself Yeah, and like there was a scarf around her neck, which She said had been a gag, but she'd managed to get out of Which could be true. Yeah, but then why wouldn't you like? Why wouldn't you untie your mum? Yeah, why wouldn't you untie your mum? Unless the suitcase is actually where some of this cash is Potentially and she's gone. Fuck you mum.

Bye. I better take this Maybe allegedly maybe Bernadette said to her Right, we're fucked Your brothers shouldn't have been about he's here like we've absolutely fucked it We've leave take get out of here. Take that.

I'm gonna be treated as a victim. Yeah. Yeah Yeah, and as soon as I'm not being looked at I'm leaving I'm leaving Yeah, and I'll meet up with you later.

And so she's just grabbed the suitcase and gone and that's it. She's she's buggered off potentially oh It's it's like the and again not to trivialize poor riches no death But it's like something out of a it's a Agatha Christie. You've done it like we know who done it, but why? Oh, it's fascinating and it's like and again like just to Bring it back to him.

Mmm, which is like it was a horrific like he had multiple Stab and slash wounds like in his chest and his back like you've been trying to get away you know, he'd struggled it and like every legitimate and slightly less legitimate source I read was that The scene was a bloodbath like it was chaotic Yeah, no, I mean it and it's it is horrific and no one as well it's also just that whole idea I hate the concept of your house or your home and whether it was his actual home or it was his mom's house But like he's he's there with his mom. Like yeah, you should be safe in The home that you're living in. Yeah, like and to just have someone turn up and then oh That's it.

It's madness Well, thank you mate that was really interesting for me and I'm only going to add to my own anxiety spiral now, so Brilliant no I think it was it was really well told and I think as I say like look we try our best with these cases to Kind of report everything that we know to be true and we go off of the information that we can find We are not professional journalists. We are telling the stories and this is the story that we found. So I think and just in case He ever hears this Chris Summers your writing was exceptionally good I'm not saying that it was of low quality or anything when I say I'm just I don't know You or the legitimacy of your sources? Yeah, so I had to be careful to protect myself there, but I will put the The link to the substack the two substack articles.

Yeah and if any Trevor's wanna throw Chris Summers a fiver And go and read them. Yeah, I won't copy and paste it out or anything and I put it by Take it out from behind a paywall. I actually we're going to Surface all of this.

Yeah, I know if you want to read what I read you can give Chris Summers a five Yeah fair enough fair enough. Um, but no, well well told. Thank you very much.

That was an interesting and it is going to Itch my brain for a while trying to work out what actually went on there Well, I suppose that leaves us with just all the nice bits and We have got loads of places where you lovely Trevor's can come and talk to us We have a website which is sinister south pod.co.uk and on there You'll find all of the source notes and summaries of all the cases that we've done from season one and season two And you could also leave us a little note to say hi only nice things though. Yeah, come on We're already quite fragile heard the beginning of this Nice thing think we can take it we can't we can't we cannot But yes, you can come over there and have a chat with us We've got an email address if you want to drop us an email and that's sinister south podcast at gmail.com There we go into the sub stack Remembered I love it and we're also on Instagram since South pod tick tock since South pod and We also have although there's the Facebook group run by the lovely Lou on by the lovely Lou Which is Trevor's unite if you want to go and have a chat we are lurkers in there so we try and avoid getting involved but but yeah go and have a chat with all the other lovely Trevor's and Then finally, we've got the patreon. Yeah, which is great.

I may or may not Have fucked I don't think you fucked it. We'll talk about that another time. Well, yeah, it's fine It's absolutely fun.

But yeah, the patreon is is up I'm running if anyone fancies going and seeing what you can get for some monies over there And we and then if someone could report back what you're expecting to get because we've really confused ourselves We have somewhat confused ourselves But it's fine. It's fine. And Yeah, I think that's probably That's your lot.

I think that is it? Well Trevor's we love you. Thank you for Listening thanks for being here guys. We are made happier by the knowledge that you are there What she said oh It's been a week it's only Monday.

It's been a week. It's been a week. Um, okay.

All right. Well, love you lots and Love you. Goodbye