UK - Sabina Nessa, 28, found murdered in park, SE London, 18 Sep 2021 *Arrest*

[zxkary]

I live on Pegler Square and take my dog for a daily walk around Cator Park. And one one or two occasions, I have made my way over to Sutcliffe Park because I know it is much larger, but each time I’ve done this using the community centre route, I haven’t gone any further than crossing at Cambert way. That community centre has always given me the creeps. I suppose it’s just the way it’s tucked in from the road. The building resembles a creepy cabin. It also happens to feel like one big blind spot, with all the trees surrounding the area. Coming to think of it, from the main road, the entrance to the community centre where the car park is doesn’t even look like a passing route (it is). Just my thoughts anyway.

It has been strange to see police tape from my bedroom window, and to think a murder was taking place just a 3-minute walk away from my building whilst I was probably playing PlayStation is blood curdling. Hopefully they find this sicko

 

[JosephineRobert]

Seems to be the top story on every news site now that it can possibly be assumed that her killer is at large. I think initially when it made the news and they had said a man in his 40s had been arrested, there wasn't really much to report on until further details were released. I too assumed the man arrested was whoever she was meeting. Maybe they have been able to rule him out or are looking for more evidence.

Is there a lot of CCTV in the area? Hard to believe there wouldn't be and it wouldn't be solved very quickly.

I expect the OneSpace Community Centre has CCTV? It seems like Astell Road is all new build flats and they tend to have CCTV I think? So the police probably could've picked her up leaving home pretty quickly once she was identified?

 

[Dotta]

Detectives issue warning after teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, 'was murdered by a stranger' | Daily Mail Online
Pics of the route

 

[Sherlockhames]

Detectives issue warning after teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, 'was murdered by a stranger' | Daily Mail Online
Pics of the route

OMG. Poor guy she was due to meet. Imagine preparing for a date, no one turning up so believing you’ve been stood up, possibly being worried but having no one to tell (calling the police being a bit strong as you wouldn’t have known much other than a name - and likelihood of police taking that seriously being minimal “she probably just changed her mind mate”) but then finding out the next day she was actually murdered on her way to meet you. Chilling.

 

[JosephineRobert]

Detectives issue warning after teacher Sabina Nessa, 28, 'was murdered by a stranger' | Daily Mail Online
Pics of the route

"When asked about the chance of a repeat of the attack, Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry said it is 'always a concern', but added there was nothing to suggest it would happen.

Responding to whether he believes a stranger was behind the attack, he added: 'That's definitely a line of inquiry that we're looking at.'"

Always hard (and probably pointless!) to read between the lines of police statements but this reads to me as the media asking the police questions re 'stranger murder' and them responding and then being sort of misquoted, rather than the police offering up the idea in the first place?

It's the Daily Mail, so many huge pinches of salt required, but mention made again of a swift arrest:

"A man in his forties was arrested on suspicion of murder a few hours after her body was found by a dog walker. But yesterday he was released under investigation pending further inquiries."

 

[JosephineRobert]

OMG. Poor guy she was due to meet. Imagine preparing for a date, no one turning up so believing you’ve been stood up, possibly being worried but having no one to tell (calling the police being a bit strong as you wouldn’t have known much other than a name - and likelihood of police taking that seriously being minimal “she probably just changed her mind mate”) but then finding out the next day she was actually murdered on her way to meet you. Chilling.

Aha. Things becoming clearer. Makes sense why she wasn't reported missing (if it was a friend she was meeting they would have followed up somehow with family, other friends, police when she didn't show up).

So was First Date Guy the man arrested?

 

[Sherlockhames]

Aha. Things becoming clearer. Makes sense why she wasn't reported missing (if it was a friend she was meeting they would have followed up somehow with family, other friends, police when she didn't show up).

So was First Date Guy the man arrested?

I wondered whether this might be the case. But then v unlikely to have been him - weird way to prey on a woman, on her way to meeting you. Maybe he was found following a bit of investigation but the pub was able to verify he hung around and then went straight home. So perhaps was quite demonstrably not the perpetrator (unless very sneaky to somehow have identified where she lived, murdered her on the way to the pub, then turned up at the pub to create his own alibi. That all seems extremely convoluted (or incredibly psychopathically planned). I think it’s probably unlikely so the police really are dealing with a random stranger killing and are therefore really concerned for the community. All just my opinion. Really don’t wish to malign the poor first date guy by considering him but then ruling him out. Can’t imagine what he must be going through.

 

[Sherlockhames]

I wondered whether this might be the case. But then v unlikely to have been him - weird way to prey on a woman, on her way to meeting you. Maybe he was found following a bit of investigation but the pub was able to verify he hung around and then went straight home. So perhaps was quite demonstrably not the perpetrator (unless very sneaky to somehow have identified where she lived, murdered her on the way to the pub, then turned up at the pub to create his own alibi. That all seems extremely convoluted (or incredibly psychopathically planned). I think it’s probably unlikely so the police really are dealing with a random stranger killing and are therefore really concerned for the community. All just my opinion. Really don’t wish to malign the poor first date guy by considering him but then ruling him out. Can’t imagine what he must be going through.

Unless of course they have reason, but no evidence yet to support it being him.
It could also be someone she maybe knew from her block - so not necessarily a stranger to her ie she wasn’t a totally random target. But the perpetrator also wasn’t just some murderer seeking a target at random. Although not sure whether that is more or less comforting for nearby residents.

 

[Lod76]

I wondered whether this might be the case. But then v unlikely to have been him - weird way to prey on a woman, on her way to meeting you. Maybe he was found following a bit of investigation but the pub was able to verify he hung around and then went straight home. So perhaps was quite demonstrably not the perpetrator (unless very sneaky to somehow have identified where she lived, murdered her on the way to the pub, then turned up at the pub to create his own alibi. That all seems extremely convoluted (or incredibly psychopathically planned). I think it’s probably unlikely so the police really are dealing with a random stranger killing and are therefore really concerned for the community. All just my opinion. Really don’t wish to malign the poor first date guy by considering him but then ruling him out. Can’t imagine what he must be going through.

JMO But it looks like the guy arrested was totally cleared to me. Any inconsistency in his story would have quickly been exposed by phone data and CCTV in the immediate area. This wouldn't have taken long to establish and I can't see police having any reason to release him and keep a watch on him hoping he would lead them to evidence in this case.

 

[Distant Observer]

Looking at Google maps, I have to say that the route she took to The Depot through the park is logical. Her road leads into the park which does seem to have street lighting. The evening would have been very balmy and warm with the temperature around 20C. All told it was a pleasant evening to stroll through the park. I can only think she was accosted and dragged off the path to somewhere poorly lit before being attacked. Poor girl.

 

[JosephineRobert]

The 'first date' info seems to have been obtained by journalists doorstepping SN's friends rather than something the police released. Not sure if there's any relevance to that.

If First Date Guy is innocent (no solid evidence to think otherwise) I hope for his sake someone is charged before the Daily Mail find out his name...

 

[Alyce]

JMO But it looks like the guy arrested was totally cleared to me. Any inconsistency in his story would have quickly been exposed by phone data and CCTV in the immediate area. This wouldn't have taken long to establish and I can't see police having any reason to release him and keep a watch on him hoping he would lead them to evidence in this case.

He has been released under investigation so not cleared at all, as yet.

 

[Skigh]

Sabina Nessa murder cops beg public for help to catch teacher's killer

 

[RexLuther]

London Traffic Cameras - Live TfL JamCam Feeds

Let's see whether we can find her on this :

Kidbrooke Park Rd/2021-09-17 - TfL JamCams Archive

The pictures do show how dark it is at 20:30 hrs on the 18th. I visited the video site https://livetrains.co.uk/jamCams/osm/ and found you can only go back 12 hours nowadays. Before it was a couple of weeks.

Not sure about the Sun story on her final journey since walking that route would mean doubling back on yourself to enter the park from Cambert Way. More likely she walked from Astell Road access point crossing Cambert Way. Hopefully the police will have further cctv footage on the route taken with possible suspects.

 

[Alyce]

Sabina was discovered under a pile of leaves in the busy London park by a woman searching for her lost necklace.

The woman, who was walking her dog, initially thought Sabina was passed out drunk, but came to a horrific realisation and called 999.

The woman said: “I gave my granddaughter a designer gold necklace for passing her biochemistry exam.

"She was going out to a party, but then came back half an hour later and said she had lost her necklace. So she went out to look for it in the park with her brother and sister.

"I didn't understand what was going on, but they told me a dog walker had called over and asked to call the police."


Everything we know so far about the killing of Sabina Nessa

 

[Sherlockhames]

The pictures do show how dark it is at 20:30 hrs on the 18th. I visited the video site https://livetrains.co.uk/jamCams/osm/ and found you can only go back 12 hours nowadays. Before it was a couple of weeks.

Not sure about the Sun story on her final journey since walking that route would mean doubling back on yourself to enter the park from Cambert Way. More likely she walked from Astell Road access point crossing Cambert Way. Hopefully the police will have further cctv footage on the route taken with possible suspects.

Just been on google satellite maps and then street view, that footpath through the park is actually lit up. So like one of the previous posters suggested, maybe she was walking on a lit route through the park, avoiding the road to avoid a Sarah Everard scenario. Those lights could create pools though so lots of shadows in between. And an opportunistic snatching requires moments and perhaps with the path lit it was clear there was no one else around (for whoever struck to feel confident of not being spotted).
So bleak. I hope this stays on the news until the perpetrator is caught. To not make it 5 minutes from your home. Horrific.

 

[Pinkizzy]

The pictures do show how dark it is at 20:30 hrs on the 18th. I visited the video site https://livetrains.co.uk/jamCams/osm/ and found you can only go back 12 hours nowadays. Before it was a couple of weeks.

Not sure about the Sun story on her final journey since walking that route would mean doubling back on yourself to enter the park from Cambert Way. More likely she walked from Astell Road access point crossing Cambert Way. Hopefully the police will have further cctv footage on the route taken with possible suspects.

She went missing on the 17th

 

[RoxyRoo]

We know that the police has confirmed she died at around 8.30 pm on the Friday but they haven't said what time she left her flat so she could have left at any time before that. Perhaps she left home at 7.00 pm or 7.30 pm when it was just getting dark hence why she felt she could take the route she did. Unless of course the 40 yo man who was arrested was indeed the person she was meeting in the Pub and confirmed the time. IMO.

 

[Sherlockhames]

Looking at the topology of the park on street view, I wonder if she was walking on that lit path behind the One Space centre but was dragged off the path and down the hill. Easier to snatch someone and drag them with the help of gravity. And if they were following her round that bend they would have been able to see the path and see it possibly empty on both directions. But that does mean they would have had to exit the path onto the Kidbrooke Park Road (unless they vaulted back over the hoarding into the building site the other side)?
Holding out hope of dashcam/bus cam footage therefore of potential suspects appearing on that road. There must be a good chance the perpetrator was caught on some kind of camera. Unless they came from her direction, following behind. In which case maybe they are on a camera in the new housing behind. Seems likely it was someone local therefore (either living in the vicinity or maybe someone visiting daily for the construction site or a project manager or some thing).

 

[Rusty Braincells]

Women should be allowed to walk around safely at any time of day or night and wherever they like, and I maintain that as a matter of political principle, not wilful naivety on my part… but in this case it wasn’t even late but 8.30pm (even earlier than Sarah Everard, and what are we going to do, suggest women walking around London after say 6pm is inherently dangerous?!) through a major capital with what seems like people around.

I don’t know whether she liked to drink but Sabina was on her way out, out not her way back home, so I’m going to put money on her being sober too.

I’m confused by the arrest of the suspect in his 40s as it seems that a very quick move in the investigation to arrest for murder at that point, but sure the police had their reasons.

The details of the finding of the body are also confusing. A dog walker or someone looking for a missing necklace? Then there is the coincidence of the first date.

Hope this one gets solved very soon as there’s an extremely dangerous person out there who wasn’t fazed by the time of the evening or the foot traffic that was around and may become bolder.