Ex-husband guilty of murder
A second-hand car salesman who killed his wife andyoung son when he started a fire at the family home as they slept has todaybeen convicted of their murder.
Danai Muhammadi drove with his girlfriend Emma Smith from Coventry to friend and co-defendant Farhad Mahmud’s house in Maidstone. Under the cover of darkness, Muhammadi and Mahmud then drove toChatham, stopping on the way to fill a fuel canister and garden sprayer with petrol. At around 2.15am on Saturday 10 September, petrol was squirted through the letterbox of Muhammadi’s estranged family’s home in Chatham Hill, Chatham.
The petrol was ignited and within minutes flames had engulfed the hallway and stairs of the property cutting off the family’s escape route.
Muhammadi’s estranged wife Melissa, 20, and their 15-month-old son Noah died in the fire. His father-in-law Mark Crook, 48, died later that week in hospital from severe injuries suffered in the blaze.
Two other people in the house at the time –Melissa’s mother Amanda, 49, and her brother Bohdan, 21, were able to escape to safety through upstairs windows suffering burns and injuries themselves.
Maidstone Crown Court heard during a six-week trial how after setting the fire, a call was made on Mahmud’s phone to Emma Smith who was at his Maidstone home. Immediately afterwards a 999 call was made by Smith to report the blaze. She then called Muhammadi’s phone and he collected her and the pair drove back to Coventry.
The fire was quickly determined as being suspiciousand an investigation was launched by the Kent and Essex Serious CrimeDirectorate.
As officers travelled to Coventry to find Muhammadi and inform him of the death of his wife and son, it was becoming apparent from automatic number plate recognition technology that a car associated with him had been tracked travellingfrom Coventry into Kent and then into Chatham.
By the time officers arrived in Coventry, Muhammadiwas a suspect and he was arrested at the second-hand car dealership where heworked. It was less than 12 hours after the fire.
A search of his flat revealed a piece of paper with a Maidstone postcode. Officers were sent to the address in Fernhill Road,Maidstone which was co-defendant Mahmud’s flat. A search found the gardensprayer in the bath still with traces of petrol inside it. He was also arrested.
Smith was arrested two days after the fire after communications technology revealed that her phone had been used in the Kentarea prior to the fire and further to this a second phone attributed to her wasused to report the fire in Chatham from the Maidstone area.
Muhammadi, 34, of Brittania Street, Coventry; door supervisor Mahmud, 35, of Fernhill Road, Maidstone and unemployed Emma Smith,21, of The Barley Lea, Coventry each denied three counts of murder and two ofattempted murder.
However, today, the jury returned guilty verdict son Muhammadi and Mahmud for the murder of Mark, Melissa and Noah Crook. EmmaSmith was found guilty of the manslaughter of all three.
Muhammadi and Mahmud were also found guilty of the attempted murder of Amanda and Bohdan Crook. Emma Smith was found not guilty of the attempted murder charges.
Detective Chief Inspector David Chewter, from theKent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate said: ‘This was one of the most tragic cases I have dealt with in 24 years of policing and my thoughts are with the Crook family who lost three generations of their close-knit family as a resul tof the fire which was deliberately set by someone they had welcomed into their family.
‘Muhammadi was driven by jealously and from day one, has denied his involvement in the death of his wife Melissa, young sonNoah and father-in-law Mark.
‘It is satisfying however that the wealth of evidence against him and his co-defendants was so overwhelming. The use of data communication technology in the shape of ANPR, CCTV and mobile phoneinformation was key to us being able to quickly arrest him for this terriblecrime.
‘That evidence has proven to be incontrovertible incourt and it is only right that the jury have returned a guilty verdict here today and justice has been done for the Crook family who will be haunted by what happened that night for the rest of their lives.’