GUILTY UK - Viktorija Sokolova, 14, Murdered, Wolverhampton W. Mids, 11 April 2018 *Arrests*

[Tortoise]

If you look at posts #35 and #38 -

#35
Mr Rees said by the time police searched his house, the defendant had got rid of the trainers, bottoms and rucksack.

He said: “Those items were not found.


#38

[Mr Kane] said if it was the same person, and they had thought to bring a change of trousers, surely they would have “gone the whole hog” and brought a change of jacket and trainers too.

- it doesn't say he disposed of his jacket. Were they not able to find any blood on his jacket? Even if he'd taken it off he would still have wet blood on his top which would stain the inside of the jacket.

 

[Elainera]

Personally I think they've proved the rape but not the murder, from everything I've read. What does everyone else think?

I think the defence has introduced some reasonable doubt on both counts. Unexplained dna on her underwear and body, and the absence of blood in the defendant's home and on his jacket (as you rightly pointed out) would make me shy away from saying I'm 100% convinced he raped and murdered her.

 

[mrazda71]

I live 20-25 minute drive away, I wish I'd been able to attend the trial but life wouldn't allow ...

I think the accused did a 'good job' of covering his tracks and his defence did a 'good job' of casting doubt ...

BUT

Just going on my gut feeling ... I think the 16 year old IS guilty but i think it will depend on what else the jury have seen and heard and their own thinking as to how they'll lean.

 

[mrazda71]

Personally I think they've proved the rape but not the murder, from everything I've read. What does everyone else think?

How do you come to this conclusion Tortoise?

 

[Tortoise]

How do you come to this conclusion Tortoise?

Well they've found his semen inside her and the medical evidence was that they know it wasn't consensual sex. So that covers the rape part for me.

The murder -

they've found a 3rd unidentified person's semen on her skin, (of course we don't know when she last showered or bathed) but it puts the possibility of another male being present into the picture,

they haven't mentioned in reporting that he disposed of his jacket so I'm thinking they have his jacket and there is none of her blood DNA on it,

the person on cctv walking with another person later was wearing different trousers and defence seems to be saying it's not clear it's him,

they've got a shoeprint at the scene which they can apparently say with confidence is a match to shoes he was wearing on cctv but he could have been there for the rape and not committed the murder. Someone else he was with could have been wearing the same brand of shoes if it's a popular brand.

they've found no blood on him (his fingernails would have been swabbed I would think), his clothes or in his house, carpets, washing machine etc. He seems to be more concerned with hiding evidence of his connection with the rape, hiding his phones and deleting facebook etc to hide the sexual crime, than in getting rid of blood from his house. they haven't said there was evidence of a clean up or bleaching etc at the house. Would a 16 yr old be so forensic aware and meticulous to not miss a speck?

Maybe we haven't heard all the evidence in reporting. They can't tie him to the blood or the weapon so to me it doesn't seem to be a beyond reasonable doubt case that he killed her. He could be scared of revealing who he was with or have run off before the murder and not seen it. I wouldn't like to lock someone up for murder unless I was certain. They've now dropped the claim that she was raped after she was deceased.

 

[Tortoise]

12:03KEY EVENT
Judge summing up
The Honourable Mr Justice Jeremy Baker is now summing up the evidence for the jury.

He is reminding the jury of messages exchanged between the accused and Viktorija via Facebook Messenger.

“It would appear in months leading up to Wednesday, April 11, Viktorija and the accused had got to know each other,” he said.

“However there had been a lull in their contact which only resumed a week before Viktorija’s death.

“He contacted Viktorija and asked if she wanted to come to West Park for a smoke.

“She didn’t reply until the following evening.

“When she replied, the accused told her he intended to go to London and suggested they met up before he left.

“During this conversation and similar ones over the next few days, Viktorija said she wasn’t allowed out and the accused suggested she should sneak out.”

12:10
'Agreed to meet with the accused'
The judge said Viktorija had agreed to meet with the accused on April 9 but that meeting did not take place as she was arrested for stealing her step-father’s bank card.


12:14
Judge on the meeting of accused and Viktorija
The judge said the accused messaged Viktorija on April 10 and asked her when they were going to meet up.

She told him she might be able to see him the following day and suggested they could meet up in the day.

However he messaged to say it was ‘dead’ during the day and he wanted to drink and smoke with her.

He asked her to try and sneak out of the house and she said she would try and do so on Wednesday. He suggested she should do so at midnight or 1am.

She agreed to meet the accused and when he messaged to ask if she was 100 per cent sure, she replied saying she was.

In the meantime, the accused was searching for pornographic films and submissive girls.
Teen accused of killing schoolgirl and raping dead body

 

[Tortoise]

12:20
Viktorija's moments before her death
On April 11, the judge said Viktorija left her home at about 11.30am and spent most of the day with her girlfriends, spending some time at West Park and Sainsbury’s.

During this time, Viktorija and the accused had been messaging and had arranged to meet a midnight.

They also exchanged selfies.

At around 5.30pm, the accused was once again searching for pornographic videos on the internet.

They left Sainsbury’s at 6.20pm and went back to one of the girl’s houses. He said messages between Viktorija and the accused resumed at 7.28pm, when he asked Viktorija who was coming, to which she replied ‘me’.

She asked what they were going to do and he said ‘smoke weed and talk about stuff’. At 10.27pm, the accused messaged Viktorija, telling her to go to the ‘black house’. He then messaged her to say he had left his house and she replied, saying she was going to leave as well.


12:30
The moment her parents found out
The judge is inviting the jury to compare the times the messages were sent with the CCTV footage, which shows a figure - which the prosecution suggests is the accused, leaving his house at 10.37pm.

Viktorija is also caught on camera walking towards the park at 10.42pm.

Meanwhile, Viktorija’s parents had returned home and found she was not there. They had called the police at 9.20pm.

Eventually, the two of them went to bed. Her mother woke up at 3am and Viktorija still wasn’t home.

She went to work and only learned a what had happened to her daughter at lunchtime, when the police told her.

The judge said her step-father denied having sex with Viktorija or, as was suggested in cross-examination, that he had killed her.

He said neither he or his wife had left the house the night she was killed.

Teen accused of killing schoolgirl and raping dead body

 

[Tortoise]

12:33
Judge on CCTV footage
Returning to CCTV footage, the judge said a figure can be seen walking into the park at 10.43pm, which the prosecution suggest is the accused.

Viktorija can also be seen walking to the park and the last time she was seen alive on footage is 10.46pm.

The judge is reminding the jury that 45 minutes after the last sighting of Viktorija, the accused’s iPhone was switched off at 11.32pm and remained disconnected until 1.27am the following morning.


12:35
Judge on accused's clothing change
At 12.45am a figure - which the prosecution say is the accused - can be seen walking away from the park.

The judge said CCTV footage shows the figure appears to be wearing Adidas trainers and is carrying a backpack, high up on his shoulder and a top with a hood up.

He said it is a matter for the jury whether it was the same person seen on earlier footage as they appear to be wearing different trousers.

The defence suggests this shows it was two different people, while the prosecution say the accused changed his lower clothing before emerging from the park.

Police were unable to find Adidas trousers [trainers? my edit], light trousers or a backpack that matched those in the footage when they searched the accused’s house.


13:09KEY EVENT
Accused deleting his Facebook account
The judge said there is no dispute that the accused’s brother can be seen on CCTV footage. He is picked up at 12.50am on the street with a second male - not suggested to be the accused.

At 1.30am, two figures can be seen - the accused’s brother and who the prosecution say is the accused.

They were out for about an hour before returning home. The prosecution say this is when he disposed of the backpack and other items that would incriminate him in Viktorija’s murder.

The judge had previously said that the defendant’s iPhone was switched off for two hours.

He said at 1.27am switched on for three minutes.

At 1.31am, it was switched off before the accused and his brother are seen leaving the house. It remains off until they return to the vicinity of their home at 2.43am. During this period, the accused’s brother’s phone was used to access a YouTube video to show how to permanently delete a Facebook account.

The phone was also used also to record a video with log on information and email addresses stored on the defendant’s iPhone.
Teen accused of killing schoolgirl and raping dead body

 

[Tortoise]

So my timeline

10:43 pm Accused enters park (cctv)
10:46pm Viktorija walking towards park (cctv)
11:32pm Accused phone switched off
12:45am Accused (alleg.) walking away from park - different trousers (cctv)
12:50am Accused's brother seen on street with a second male (not the accused) (cctv)
1:27am Accused phone switched on for 3 minutes
1:30am Accused (alleg.) seen with his brother (cctv)
1:31am Accused phone switched off and accused and his brother are seen leaving the house.
1:31 am to 2:43am the brother's phone watches a youtube video on how to permanently delete facebook account. Backpack and trainers disposed of.
2:43am Accused and brother return to vicinity of house and his phone is switched back on.

 

[Tortoise]

Details:Trial (Part Heard) - Summing Up - 10:35
Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 11:39
Trial (Part Heard) - Summing Up - 11:41
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 14:00 - 12:55

Wolverhampton Crown Court Listings, daily hearings, archives, case news, records & details

 

[mrazda71]

Well they've found his semen inside her and the medical evidence was that they know it wasn't consensual sex. So that covers the rape part for me.

The murder -

they've found a 3rd unidentified person's semen on her skin, (of course we don't know when she last showered or bathed) but it puts the possibility of another male being present into the picture,

they haven't mentioned in reporting that he disposed of his jacket so I'm thinking they have his jacket and there is none of her blood DNA on it,

the person on cctv walking with another person later was wearing different trousers and defence seems to be saying it's not clear it's him,

they've got a shoeprint at the scene which they can apparently say with confidence is a match to shoes he was wearing on cctv but he could have been there for the rape and not committed the murder. Someone else he was with could have been wearing the same brand of shoes if it's a popular brand.

they've found no blood on him (his fingernails would have been swabbed I would think), his clothes or in his house, carpets, washing machine etc. He seems to be more concerned with hiding evidence of his connection with the rape, hiding his phones and deleting facebook etc to hide the sexual crime, than in getting rid of blood from his house. they haven't said there was evidence of a clean up or bleaching etc at the house. Would a 16 yr old be so forensic aware and meticulous to not miss a speck?

Maybe we haven't heard all the evidence in reporting. They can't tie him to the blood or the weapon so to me it doesn't seem to be a beyond reasonable doubt case that he killed her. He could be scared of revealing who he was with or have run off before the murder and not seen it. I wouldn't like to lock someone up for murder unless I was certain. They've now dropped the claim that she was raped after she was deceased.

It is my belief (and I've seen it quoted by the prosecution but can recall which article) that she was dead or near death when the anal rape took place.

I think he attacked her in the pavilion and he put her over the bench dead or near to death purely for the purpose of being able to anally rape her.

Which must surely mean that he was the attacker? It's not easy (I don't imagine) to anally rape someone who is non compliant without at least being able to restrain them and position them. None of the 3 arrested look like 6ft brick outhouses to me capable of annally raping a girl who is ready to fight back without subduing her.

He didn't think of throwing her body in the lake because he didn't need to, he thought he'd prepared well enough to get away with it.

I feel that he went prepared to get what he wanted by any means and I'm surprised that his brother/friends are in the dock for aiding an offender! He went with a backpack full of things to aid his not identification. Disposable gloves even?

It pishes me off no end that defendants can choose not to give evidence/take the stand - if there's solid evidence I'd happily allow any means available to get the truth in cases like this.

 

[Tortoise]

Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, has told the court that the Crown offers “no more evidence” on count three that the defendant was charged with - sexual penetration of a corpse.

He said that the evidence “isn’t clear” precisely when Viktorija died.

The Honourable Mr Justice Jeremy Baker has told the jury he will invite them to return a not guilty verdict for that charge on that basis.
Teen accused of killing schoolgirl and raping dead body

This was what was stated yesterday when the prosecution dropped the claim that she was dead when she was raped.

I agree she was likely incapacitated when she was raped but that could be being held by another person or forced over a bench in the pavillion rather than the head injuries inflicted.

 

[Tortoise]

I think it's odd that the accused's brother and another male are on the street at the same time as the accused but the accused's phone was switched off over an hour earlier so he couldn't have called him to come out and meet him. Why were they hanging around the vicinity of the park? They don't have cctv of the accused leaving the park as they do of him entering the park, so there must have been a way out not covered by cctv like a hole in the fence.

It's just me but I wouldn't convict on the evidence we've heard, even though I think he was probably involved. It has to be higher certainty than that.

 

[mrazda71]

This was what was stated yesterday when the prosecution dropped the claim that she was dead when she was raped.

I agree she was likely incapacitated when she was raped but that could be being held by another person or forced over a bench in the pavillion rather than the head injuries inflicted.

Why would he rape her over the bench, kill her in the pavilion and then put her back over the bench?

Oh how I wish the backpack had been found

 

[Tortoise]

Why would he rape her over the bench, kill her in the pavilion and then put her back over the bench?

Oh how I wish the backpack had been found

I don't know if she was raped over the outside bench, that seems like a huge risk especially with the fairground being set up in the park and people no doubt living in trailers who could have been out wandering around walking their dogs at 11pm/midnight. Her phone was found on the island in the lake and her jeans were found in a bin. I wonder if she was in a complete daze and left for dead after the hammer attack in the pavilion but stumbled outside and collapsed over the bench. They think she was alive for up to an hour after the head injuries.

 

[Tortoise]

14:53
Judge on semi-naked body draped over the park
The judge is now reminding the jury of when a dog walker found Viktorija’s semi-naked body draped over the park bench just after 7am on April 12.

He alerted police and a homicide investigation was launched.

The judge said in the pavilion, known locally as the ‘black house’, police found a considerable amount of blood, three of Viktorija’s teeth and her hooped earrings.

Her pink boots were found on the edge of the pond and her jeans and pants were stuffed into a rubbish bin.

Her mobile phone was recovered from the island in the centre of the pond.

Teen accused of killing schoolgirl and raping dead body

 

[Tortoise]

14:59
Police interview details
The judge said police obtained access to Viktorija’s Facebook account on April 13 and found the names of those she had been in recent contact with.

By then, the accused’s profile name had been changed from one alias to another.

Police went to the accused’s home and arrested him on suspicion of murder. An extensive search saw a number of items seized but no Adidas trainers - or footwear with a honeycomb pattern on the soles - were found.

They were also unable to locate a backpack or light coloured trousers with a reflective pattern. However they did find an Adidas jacket, a black man bag and an iPhone, which was hidden behind a cupboard but contained no SIM card.

Records revealed call records with Viktorija had been deleted, as had messages and his internet search history.

In interview, the accused declined to answer a number of questions but in a prepared statement said he occasionally messaged Viktorija after she sent him a friend request on Facebook.

He said he broke off contact as she had kept turning up at his house at night. He concluded by saying his Facebook account had been hacked and he couldn’t log in.

He was charged and although he didn’t say anything at the time, he later asked if police had matched DNA as he hadn’t done it and had been framed.

15:00
Judge outlines horrific injuries
A post-mortem revealed three teeth had been knocked out of Viktorija’s mouth, the judge said.

She had a number of minor injuries on her body, some recent, some older.

She had suffered a significant number of blunt force injuries to her head, which led to her death.

She had lacerations around her nose, a fractured skull and facial bones.

One of her vertebrae was also fractured.

She had no injuries to her hands, which would have been consistent with her trying to defend herself.

Teen accused of killing schoolgirl and raping dead body

 

[Tortoise]

15:05
Judge finishes summing up
The judge has finished summing up the evidence and jurors are about to begin their deliberations.
Teen accused of killing schoolgirl and raping dead body

 

[Tortoise]

Trial (Part Heard) - Jury retire to consider verdict - 14:58

Wolverhampton Crown Court Listings, daily hearings, archives, case news, records & details

 

[mrazda71]

If he'd raped her but genuinely not I injured/attacked/killed her - that he'd be a lot more vocal rather than 'no comment' ...

I imagine, like most of the cases we've all followed here ... a lot more will come out after the verdict, especially a guilty verdict.