How Rolex honey-trap killer was undone by his taste for KFC and £1,350 Moncler designer coats

Watch a report on the case by ITV Anglia's Sophie Wiggins

A murderer's taste for luxury clothes proved to be his downfall - after his designer coat turned out to be a vital clue for detectives on his trail.

Killer Ikem Affia, 31, was part of a gang who preyed on rich people who displayed their wealth on the internet.

In February 2022 they singled out Saul Murray, 33, after he posted a picture on Instagram of his two Rolex watches.

On the night of 27 February, Affia's two female accomplices tricked their way into Mr Murray's home in Luton and drugged him with the date rape drug GHB.

Surpreet Dhillon and Temidayo Awe, who were known for setting "honey traps" for people who displayed wealth online, seduced and stripped their victim.

But when the drug failed to knock Mr Murray out they were seen on CCTV footage opening the door to Affia and his accomplice Cleon Brown, 29, to commit the robbery and kill their victim. 

Mr Murray was found naked in a pool of blood in the communal entrance to his flat in New Town Street, Luton.

Luton Crown Court heard that in fact, the Rolex watches were fake and that Mr Murray, a father-of-six, had only just moved in and had no expensive items in the flat.

One of the men, who turned out to be Affia, was seen with a large knife in his hand as he left.

Affia and Brown had been careful not to touch anything in the building, and wore masks throughout to evade CCTV.

But the murderer's taste for designer gear was to give detectives from Bedfordshire a vital advantage in the case.

On the night of the crime Affia was wearing a £1,350 Moncler puffer coat which showed up on CCTV at the murder scene.

As they searched for clues as to the killer's identity, detectives contacted Moncler and discovered that there had only been 69 sold in the UK.

With such a small customer base, police were able to trace one back to Affia’s partner.

Detectives were able to track the route of the robbers by using the telematics in the hired Mercedes the gang used to travel to the murder scene.

They could see that two days earlier the two robbers had been to a KFC branch in London and - crucially - that Affia was wearing the Moncler coat in the footage.

Police compared the footage from murder scene, and decided to buy their own Moncler coat to create a re-construction.

They put someone wearing the coat in those similar circumstances, at the same time, in the same lighting conditions and got a CCTV expert to compare the pictures.

That expert was able to say that it was in fact the same coat.

Police also used the telematics on the Mercedes to track the car to a garage in London where Cleon Brown was seen using a hoover to clean it out after the crime.

Det Insp Dale Mepstead, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said while police would never know exactly what happened in Mr Murray's home “there was a significant amount of blood in the property which would suggest that some form of fight or aggression had taken place.”

The knife was never found.

After a 10-week trial at Luton Crown Court, Affia, of Shore Place, Hackney, was sentenced to 25 years for murder and conspiracy to rob.

Brown was jailed for 11 years, Dhillon was sentenced to 10 years and Awe for seven years for manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Giving evidence, Dhillon admitted targeting six men in similar honey traps between October 2021 and February 2022.

One victim lost £32,000. She said Awe had been involved on four occasions.

In a victim personal statement the victim’s father Colin Murray described Saul as a wonderful son.

He said he had watched his son die on CCTV, saying: “It is the last thing I think about before going to sleep and first thing I think about when I wake up.”

Judge Michael Simon said Saul Murray’s life had been “cut brutally short.”

He said: “Nothing this court says or does can possibly repair the cavernous void in the hearts and lives of those to whom Saul Murray meant so much.”

Det Insp Mepstead said: “This was clearly a planned attack; facilitated by Dhillon and Awe and carried out by Affia and Brown.

“It’s obvious from the way the two women used a sedative substance on Mr Murray and the fact Affia was armed with a knife that they were prepared to get what they wanted at any cost – which sadly was Mr Murray’s life."

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