Temidayo Awe, a Coventry University student who was involved in the Saul Murray honeytrap homicide in Luton, was convicted of manslaughter for a Rolex watch that turned out to be a fake.
The third-year student was a part of the honey trap that resulted in 33-year-old Saul Murray dying of stab wounds outside his New Town Street flat in the early hours of February 27, 2022.
After viewing photographs of Murray wearing Rolex watches on Instagram, Awe and three others decided to drug and rob him. After reviewing hours of CCTV footage, detectives identified 31-year-old Ikem Affia as the key suspect in Mr Murray’s death.
Police investigating the murder discovered a vital piece of evidence in the case: a Moncler coat worth over £1,300 that Affia was wearing at the time of the intended attack on Mr Murray.
Less than 300 of these jackets were available in the UK at the time, with just 69 being sold online. One of the unique jackets had been sold to Affia’s partner and delivered to his house the year before.
Cleon Brown, 29, and Surpreet Dhillon, 36, were also arrested and have now been sentenced for their roles in the murder.
Dhillon first contacted Mr Murray via Instagram, according to Luton Crown Court, before she and Awe were caught on CCTV entering his flat about 11.40pm the night before he was discovered.
Awe was last seen departing around 2.30 a.m., while Dhillon propped open the community door with a broom, allowing Awe to later return with the two guys, one of them, Affia, was carrying a huge knife.
The two women had used a sedative on Mr Murray, who was seen running towards the door before he lost consciousness and collapsed.
CCTV footage taken from a local fast food restaurant showed Brown and Affia together. In it, Affia is wearing the same coat that was seen on the footage from Mr Murray’s flat.
Brown was also at the site after contacting Dhillon, according to phone data. While other footage proved that Brown’s leased Mercedes Benz was seen acting suspiciously in the neighborhood of the flat.
Additional video evidence revealed that Brown had hired the Mercedes Benz observed acting suspiciously near Mr Murray’s flat.
Brown was also captured on CCTV using a vacuum cleaner to clean the Mercedes at a London gas station after the offense. He’s wearing the identical jogging bottoms as seen on Mr Murray’s flat CCTV.
Judge Michael Simon told the sentencing hearing at Luton Crown Court that it was a “senseless” conspiracy to rob. As a result of the trial, the four were given the following sentences:
“Ikem Affia, 31, of Shore Place, London was sentenced to life in prison for murder and will have to serve a minimum of 25 years. He was also sentenced to 14 years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently.
“Cleon Brown, 29, of King Edwards Road, South Hackney was sentenced to 11 years for manslaughter and nine years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently; a total of 11 years.
“Surpreet Dhillon, 36, of Carnarvon Road, London was sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter and 10 years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently; a total of 10 years.
“Temidayo Awe, 21, of Saunders Street, Gillingham was sentenced to seven years for manslaughter and six years for conspiracy to commit robbery to run concurrently; a total of seven years.”
