True crime fanatic who stabbed mum to death in random beach attack to live out sick TV show fantasy will be jailed
A TWISTED student who murdered a mum and tried to kill her friend on Bournemouth beach will be jailed later today.
Nasen Saadi, 21, fatally stabbed Amie Gray, 34, and seriously wounded her pal Leanne Miles as the pair were enjoying a late-night chat next to a small fire on May 24 last year.
Criminology undergraduate Saadi, of Croydon, south London, is to be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court today, and is expected to be locked up for life.
Mrs Justice Cutts had ordered sentencing reports when the killer was found guilty of murder and attempted murder in December.
Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue told the trial that Ms Gray died as a result of 10 knife wounds including one to the heart while Ms Miles suffered 20 knife injuries.
The defendant, who had been studying criminology and criminal psychology at the University of Greenwich, had researched locations to carry out the killing and had even asked his course lecturers questions on how to get away with murder.
The trial heard that Saadi was “fascinated” with knives and had bought six blades from websites, with several found at his aunt’s house where he was living as well as at his parents’ home.
Saadi used the name “Ninja Killer” for his Snapchat account and also used the username “NSkills” on his computer.
Saadi, who had dropped out out of a physical education course, had carried out searches about the Milly Dowler and Brianna Ghey killings.
Lecturer Dr Lisa-Maria Reiss told the court Saadi had asked questions on “how to get away with murder”, which had led her to ask him: “You’re not planning a murder are you?”
It can now be reported that Saadi touched himself while in his prison cell ahead of the trial after he asked a female prison officer how much publicity the case was getting.
The court was told Saadi had booked two hotels for a four-night stay in Bournemouth starting May 21 and was shown on CCTV carrying out “reccies” of the seafront and the scene of the murder, which happened at about 11.40pm on May 24.
During his stay at the Dorset resort, the defendant, who is a fan of horror movies, went to the cinema to see “slasher” movie The Strangers – Chapter 1.
Suggesting a motive for the attack, Ms Jones said: “This defendant seems to have wanted to know what it would be like to take life, perhaps he wanted to know what it would be like to make women feel afraid, perhaps he thought it would make him feel powerful, make him interesting to others.
“Perhaps he just couldn’t bear to see people engaged in a happy, normal social interaction and he decided to lash out, to hurt, to butcher.”
In a statement released after the trial, Sian Gray said: “Amie will never be forgotten.
“She touched the lives of so many. The immense support and love shown by everyone, reflects just that.
“Amie’s life has been brutally taken but now she can rest in peace. Her strength lives on in all of us.”
The defendant, who chose not to give evidence, always denied carrying out the attacks saying it was a case of mistaken identity and adding that he must have “blacked out” when they happened.
He is also to be sentenced for failing to provide his mobile phone pin code to police.
Misogynist Saadi believed he could get away with murder, picking two purely innocent women to play out his warped fantasy.
He spent months plotting his heinous crime and executed it to a tee, brutally killing Ms Gray and then covering his steps by destroying all evidence and denying in cold blood that it was him.
He even picked a beauty spot on Bournemouth beach where he could make his escape, a path known locally as the 39 steps – after the classic Hitchcock thriller about a man wrongly accused of murder.
But the criminology student was no criminal mastermind and left a trail of clues including a murderers toolkit, a dark internet search history of high profile killings and knife websites, and an armoury of blades at his home.
Just days before the horrific stabbings he had gone to watch slasher movie The Strangers which he later told detectives was “about a killer that kills with no motive. It’s just a movie.”
But for Saadi it was not just a movie.
As the prosecution said “He wanted the notoriety a killing of this sort might bring him…wanted to be the star from a true crime episode, to choose his own attack, in a motiveless killing he designed himself.”
ALARM BELLS
His internet search history showed he researched famous murders including Brianna Ghey and Milly Dowler.
Alarm bells had rung when he had repeatedly asked his lecturers off-topic questions about the intricacies of killing, DNA and how to get away with murder.
Saadi had such an interest that his teacher once asked him: “You’re not planning a murder are you?”
His fellow students had a frightening insight into his views on gender when he would make statements during seminars about how “women are weaker than men” and how “they shouldn’t work in certain jobs”.
But little did anyone know that Saadi would go on to commit his horrendous bloodbath on a quiet and peaceful evening in May this year.
The student, who described himself as “dumb” and “not good enough” in his studies, was living at the time with his aunt in a £800,000 house in Purley, south London.
A neighbour said: “They were quiet, private people. We would occasionally exchange pleasantries.
“The granddad and the auntie are really nice people and I feel sorry for them because it must be very hard – a real shock.”
Amie's heartbroken wife pays tribute today
Amie’s wife Sian Gray said following the verdict: “I want to take this opportunity to thank all of Dorset Police, the jury, prosecution team, the medics, and first response team – to each and every person who helped bring Amie the justice she deserved.
“Amie will never be forgotten.
“She touched the lives of so many.
“The immense support and love shown by everyone reflects just that.
“Amie’s life has been brutally taken but now she can rest in peace.
“Her strength lives on in all of us.”
However his parents were aware of his fascination with blades – his father had previously taken two knives and an axe from him in the past.
Regardless, Saadi was able to carry on with his murderous plot.
He spent months researching killings and knives and then began to work out where to commit his crime.
A month earlier he typed “what hotels don’t have CCTV in UK” and researched whether “pebbles or sand” were easiest to run on.
The day he arrived in Bournemouth he did a recce of the beach at Durley Chine which he had researched the previous month and where he would four days later carry out the killing.
On the night of Amie and Leanne’s deaths, Saadi prowled the promenade looking for victims.
They were the unlucky pair the cold, calculated killer picked.
Sarah Jones KC said: “Perhaps he just couldn’t bear to see people engaged in a happy normal social interaction and he decided to lash out, to hurt, to butcher.
“With purpose, slowly, stealthily and quietly; when he thought no-one would observe him, he hovered at the edges of the promenade, then stepped onto the sand, and walked directly towards the two women with a knife in his hand.”
Despite stabbing them 27 times he managed to avoid leaving any DNA on them or at the scene.
There were also no clear images of him on CCTV which could prove he was there.
A lone amateur photographer out moongazing claims he walked past Saadi and noticed his “bumfluff beard” on the path down to the beach from the clifftop and later pointed him out in a police identity parade.
Searches of Saadi’s laptop showed that after returning from Bournemouth he googled “Bournemouth beach” before opening up a press report reading “beach woman died, another seriously injured after stabbing”.
He later read a news article on the arrest of a 17-year-old boy in relation to the attack.
When armed cops raided his home four days after the killing, they found a Trespass rucksack which contained white latex gloves, balaclava, a torch, two packets of chillis and used wet wipes.
They also seized a number of weapons including an MTech USA extreme serrated knife and a black machete, as well as a “self defence spray”.
Grim details, which were not heard by the jury, revealed that he was so pleased with his horrific killing that after his arrest he was seen performing a sex act in his prison cell when told about how much press attention it was getting.
In police interview Saadi arrogantly tried to claim he was innocent, mocking the lack of evidence against him.
He said: “I’m just being wrongly accused, I feel like you’ve got very weak evidence, I cannot believe I’m being wrongly accused of a serious offence I’ve got nothing to do with.
“I feel like I’ve been arrested because you’re under pressure to find someone to suspect and I’m getting blamed.
“I’m not capable of doing that.”
He also told police he enjoyed “true crime”.
Saadi said: “I like the psychology behind nature or nurture.
“I like to look at motives behind criminals.
“I like unsolved crimes.”
In court Saadi’s lawyers tried to argue that he was an “innocent stooge” and the victim of a case of mistaken identity.
Charlie Sherrard KC defending said: “Like so many murder movies, on the big or small screen, the obvious candidate turns out to be an innocent stooge.”
But despite a lack of DNA or witness evidence, Saadi was found guilty by the jury.
His fascination with ‘True Crime’ ironically led to his conviction.
