Nisha Patel Nasri: Husband guilty of murder

28th May 2008

Unfaithful husband Fadi Nasri was found guilty today of hiring a hitman to kill his wife so that he could claim her life insurance and set up with his pregnant mistress.

After a three month Old Bailey trial, Nasri was convicted of murdering special constable Nisha Patel Nasri after starting an affair with a Lithuanian prostitute.

The court heard that Nasri gave his front door keys to the killer before leaving his wife alone in their house in Wembley, north London.

The hitman, Jason Jones, entered the house and stabbed her to death on her doorstep as she ran screaming out of the front door.

Family friends said that Nasri, who was originally not suspected by police and even gave a televised appeal to help find the killer, was deceptive and manipulative.

Katen Patel, Nisha’s brother, said Nasri would often pretend to weep in front of his family and told of his disgust of the husband’s betrayal.

Before and after her death, Nasri, 34, had been on holidays with his mistress, Laura Mockiene, to Egypt, the United States and her homeland.

Police became suspicious after discovering three intimate picture of her on his mobile phone.

Only months after the murder, Nasri attempted to claim his wife’s share of her family home and was thought to be laundering money to a Lithuanian account.

The court heard that Nasri, who wore his wedding ring at the Old Bailey throughout proceedings, had several motives for killing his wife.

Shortly before her death, Nisha and Nasri had taken out a joint life insurance policy, from which he would get a £350,000 payout should she die, along with £17,000 in home insurance.

He was heavily in debt but leading a double life, treating his mistress to luxury holidays and expensive hotels as they continued their affair.

Police believe Ms Mockiene became pregnant with Nasri’s baby but later had an abortion in Lithuania as suspicion turned towards him.

Meanwhile Nisha, the hard-working “breadwinner” in the relationship, was refused her wish for a baby, and had threatened divorce.

Nasri, who had once run an escort agency and a limousine-hire business which acted as a front for drug dealing, had been jailed for nine months in 1998 for nine months for trying to run over a police officer who asked him about an out of date tax disc.

He had a number of “dodgy” contacts and used fixer Rodger Leslie to set up the “hit”. Leslie, 38, a prolific drug dealer, has numerous piercings on his face and body which the court heard represented murders he had been involved in. He counter claimed that each stud represented “a loved one who had died”.

Leslie hired killer Jason Jones, a nightclub bouncer with 76 convictions including burglary, robbery and assaulting a police officer.

Tony Emmanuel was his getaway driver. Police traced his car after scanning CCTV images around the area where the murder weapon – a John Lewis kitchen knife – was found.

Nasri, Leslie and Jones were found guilty of murder by the jury and will be sentenced later. Emmanuel was cleared.