A 51-year-old Indian-origin man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a sex worker in London. 30 years ago, Sandeep Patel had murdered a 39-year-old sex worker in Westminster area.
He had stabbed her 140 times with a knife. In the case of murder of Marina Koppal, his name did not even appear anywhere for 28 years.
A case was registered in his name in 2022 and now the court has convicted him and sentenced him.
How was the accused caught?
A hair was stuck on one of Koppal’s rings. This ring was recovered from the murder site itself.
When DNA match of this hair was done, information about Sandeep Patel was obtained. Investigating officers said that the footprints found at the scene also belonged to Patel.
Dan Chester, operational forensic manager of the police department, said that the officers worked very hard to solve the mystery of Marina’s murder.
The credit for this goes to the forensic scientist, fingerprint expert, forensic manager and the entire investigating team. Actually, Marina used to work as a full time massage. Although she was also a part-time sex worker.
He also had two children. One day when she did not return home, her husband started searching. Later Marina’s body was found. At the same time, Patel’s fingerprints were found on a plastic carry bag but it could not be identified.
Later, when modern technology came into forensic science, in the year 2008, DNA test of the hair found from the ring was done. It took 14 years to link it with Patel’s DNA and trace it.
Patel was also an accused in another case. His DNA record was registered in that case. After this he was arrested in 2022.
After the murder, Marina’s bank card was found near Patel’s house. According to Yahoo News, last year itself the police had got Patle’s footprints matched with the footprints found in Marina’s room. Marina’s husband also died in 2005.