'Grindr killer' found guilty of murder after killing lover with lethal drug overdose
A drug dealer has been found guilty of killing a former Bond actor with the same chemsex drug he sold to serial killer Stephen Port.
Gerald Matovu met Eric Michels via gay dating app Grindr in August last year.
The 26-year-old plied 54-year-old Michels, who had a minor role in Skyfall, with a fatal dose of GHB at his home in Chessington, Surrey.
He then made off with his bank card details and other belongings.
GHB is a drug used by some in sexual encounters to heighten feelings and can reduce inhibitions.
Mr Michels was one of 12 men targeted by Matovu and his lover, 24-year-old Brandon Dunbar, over a year and a half.
Both were found guilty by a court of separate offences.
Links to east London GHB serial killer
Matovu had links with former chef Stephen Port, who was convicted of a series of similar murders - although this information was not provided to jurors to ensure a fair trial.
Forty four-year-old Port met men through the dating app and killed them with GHB overdoses.
He was handed a whole life term for the rape and murder of four young men, all of whom were found dumped near his Barking home in 2014 and 2015.
Read more: Serial killer Stephen Port sentenced to whole life term for murdering four men
Matovu has previously pleaded guilty to supplying mephedrone and GHB to Stephen Port, but he denied knowing what Port planned to do with it.
He was sentenced to 12 months’ community service, 150 hours of unpaid work and 40 days of drug rehabilitation for the offence.
At Matovu’s murder trial, prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC told how the defendants took advantage of victims in Grindr meet ups in a copycat of Port.
Where did the killer meet his victim and what happened next?
On the evening of August 16 last year, divorced father-of-three Mr Michels made contact with Matovu on dating app Grindr after a night out in Soho, central London.
Mr Michels invited him to his house in south-west London for sex, the court heard.
They were filmed together shopping in a Sainsbury's store near Waterloo store en route to his home.
While there, the defendant drugged Mr Michels and took photographs of his bank cards and driver’s licence.
He then made off with a MacBook, mobile phone, an initialled black case, US driving licence and various cards as well as a suitcase full of bottles of alcohol.
Mr Michels’ body was discovered in bed under a duvet the next day by his concerned family after not responding to a text from his teenage daughter.
He was found next to an empty syringe, from which both the victim and killer's DNA was identified.
What happened at the trial?
Matovu denied murder but accepted going home with him to have consensual sex.
He denied administering GHB to Mr Michels, claiming he took it of his own free will.
A jury deliberated for 26 hours before reaching a guilty verdict on all the charges presented.
Matovu was convicted of six counts of administering a noxious substance, seven thefts, six counts of having articles for fraud, murder, assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possessing GBL drugs.
Brandon Dunbar, of Forest Gate in east London, was found guilty of three counts of administering a noxious substance, five thefts, six counts of having articles for fraud, two frauds, assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and dishonestly retaining wrongful credit.
The victim's family shouted in court as the pair were found guilty.
One said: "Yes! The rest of your life in prison."
Both were remanded in custody and will be sentenced on September 5.