by Mick the Ram

A 20-year-old student has been found guilty of the vicious and senseless murder of a young woman on a UK beach and the attempted murder of a second woman.

Nasen Saadi, who was studying for a degree in criminology and criminal psychology at Greenwich University, picked out 34-year-old Amie Gray who was picnicking on Bournemouth beach on the south coast of England in May of this year, with her friend Leanne Miles.

The two women were repeatedly stabbed for absolutely no reason, other than for the twisted satisfaction of Saadi, who had decided he wanted to commit murder seemingly just to experience what it felt like.

Ms Miles fortunately escaped with her life, despite receiving more than 20 frenzied knife wounds, but sadly Ms Gray – who was  sports coach and a mother – was not so lucky, as the blade punctured her heart in one of the multiple blows she received.

Saadi was said to have a fascination for knives and had an obsession with notorious crimes, often quizzing university lecturers about how a killer would get away with murder, in the months prior to the attacks.

In the lead-up to the attack, Saadi from suburban south London, searched for details of murders using online pseudonyms which included “Ninja Killer” and “NSKills”.

The jury of five women and seven men took five hours and 36 minutes to reach its verdict at Winchester Crown Court, and the judge, Mrs Justice Cutts, told the killer he will be jailed for life with a minimum term of “considerable length” adding that it will be announced at the sentencing hearing, which was set for 28 March, 2025.

Chilling research

The trial heard Saadi had done his own research on how police investigated murders and using that information he had purchased latex gloves, a balaclava, wet wipes and nail clippers to try to avoid being traced.

Lecturer Dr Lisa-Maria Reiss relayed to the court how Saadi had asked questions on the best ways to get away with killing someone and the relentless questioning had led her to ask him: “You’re not planning a murder are you?”

Meticulously planned

The jury heard how Saadi had booked two hotels for a four-night stay Bournemouth from May 21-24 and CCTV footage was played showing the student carrying out “recces” of the seafront and around the scene of the murder, which took place at around 11.40pm, on the 24th – his last day in the town.

He hid his weapon and disposed of all the clothes he was wearing, leaving no traces of DNA or fingerprints at the scene.

Strong case built against suspect

He stubbornly refused to give police the passcode to his phone, which he knew would stop them from using technology to pinpoint him on the beach; but nevertheless, Dorset detectives built a strong circumstantial case that was able to convinced the jury he was the murderer, despite his best efforts.

They was shown footage of the shocking attack, where Saadi is seen to initially loiter in the vicinity of his two victims, before walking purposefully towards them and launching his savage attack.

He is then seen running after one of the women, whilst an audio recording captured the extended screams from the women.

Traumatic phone call heard

The jury heard a recording of a 999 call made by Ms Miles in which she was heard crying in pain. The 39-year-old told the operator: “I have been stabbed loads of times. Oh my God, I am getting dizzy, please hurry up, please hurry up; I am bleeding everywhere.”

Saadi admitted to police he had been in Bournemouth and conceded he was interested in unsolved motiveless crimes, but he denied carrying out the stabbing frenzy and instead stuck to a line where he claimed to have no memory of the time of the attack, insisting that he had “blacked out”. He never took the stand at the trial.

In search of notoriety

Saadi had no previous convictions, but Sarah Jones KC, prosecuting observed: “He wanted the notoriety a killing of this sort might bring him; he wanted to be the star from a true crime episode in a motiveless killing he designed himself.”

It also came to light that he also harboured strong misogynistic views, repeatedly telling fellow students at his University that women were weaker than men and should not work in certain jobs.

No emotion at verdict

It wasn’t revealed until after sentencing that Saadi appeared to take sexual gratification from his actions, as during his remand in the high-security Belmarsh prison in south-east London, he asked a female officer if the killing was making headlines and then masturbated in front of her.

As the verdicts were delivered, Saadi hung his head and did not show any emotion. The judge said she would seek information from a neuro-development specialist before passing full sentence, declaring: “It seems to me it is my duty to find out as much as I possibly can.”

Neither the clothes that Saadi was wearing to carry out his brutal onslaught nor the weapon he used, have ever been recovered.