A man who killed and store two women in a chest freezer has been found guilty of murder.
Zahid Younis, 36 from Vandome Close, E16 was convicted at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, 3 September of murdering two women, Mihrican ‘Jan Mustafa, 38, and Henriette Szucs, 34.
The police found their bodies in a freezer at Younis’ home in Canning Town last year, April 27 2019.
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On Friday, April 26 2019, a friend had reported to the police that Younis was missing and that she was concerned for his welfare. Officers attended Younis’ flat and several knocks on the door yielded no answer.
The following day, officers returned to the apartment and forced entry for a brief search.
Officers attention was drawn to a small cupboard containing a gas and electricity meter and near it was a small chest freezer locked with items stacked on top and flies were gathering.
An officer forced the freezer open and found a frozen shape which turned out to be the remains of Mihrican, clothed and wrapped in plastic and a bedsheet.
She was later identified by a distinctive tattoo on her wrist, and through familial DNA.
A further examination of the chest after removed from the scene to Walthamstow mortuary revealed the body of another woman, Henriett – beneath Mihrican.
Henriett was dressed in pyjamas and wrapped in a sleeping bag and then plastic; which was later established to be the packaging and freezer came in, the police said on Thursday.
According to the police report, each of the women had sustained multiple injuries and the condition of the bodies made the full examination very difficult.
Examiners could not ascertain the full causes of death, however, Henriett had head injuries and Mihrican’s sternum and larynx were fractured, the report disclosed.
It was gathered that Henriett had been missing longer than Mihrican. Henriett was missing for nearly three years while Mihrican had been missing almost a year before.
The police said both women had been associated with Younis in the time leading up to their disappearance.
The serial killer may have picked on vulnerable women as Henriette and Mihrican were women living chaotic lifestyles, with a period of homelessness and drug addiction.
According to the investigation, Henriett was from Hungary who came to the UK in 2012 and 2014. She had had a number of abusive partners and had suffered mental illness.
Finding revealed that she crossed path with Younis in January 2016 and moved in with him in March of the same year.
Police said they found some notes which indicated that Younis was violent and controlling towards Henriett.
She had written in her note that her violent partner didn’t allow her in the kitchen anymore and needed to show him respect and ‘follow the things point to point what he says.’
She was last seen on August 29, 2016, but it is believed that she died close to November 11, 2016, at the time Younis bought the freezer, which the prosecution said was to dispose of her body.
The second woman, Mihrican was last seen in early May 2018 and was reported missing by her sister on May 10.
She was seen with the serial killer and abuser in the local area and leaving his flat, and phone evidence showed they had been in contact.
In May, during the time Mihrican is believed to be murdered, Younis had his carpets removed and wooden flooring installed in his flat.
In the trial, Younis had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of preventing a lawful burial.
The family of Mihrican said “Jan’s death has changed our family forever. From the moment we found out that she was missing, we spent every moment of every hour looking for her and we never for one minute gave up.
“Deep down I knew something wasn’t right because you would never leave your children. They were your world.
“Jan was a fantastic mother. She adored her children. She loved to dance. She was artistic. She was creative. She was beautiful. She was friends with everybody and very funny. She celebrated life. She was optimistic. She never said anything bad about anybody. She would give her last penny to someone in need. She was an angel. She is an angel.
“The trial is over, justice has been done. ‘Closure,’ they say. Never. It will not bring my Jan back. I love you my Tilly and I know you are with me.”
Maria, Henrietta’s mother said “Maria, Henriett’s mother, has been hugely overwhelmed by the death of her daughter. Not only because she was murdered but because it happened in another country. A country where she doesn’t know the law or know the police investigation and court processes.
“Maria lost touch with Henriett when she came to the UK but that only exacerbates her grief. The fact that Henriett lay deceased in a freezer for two and a half years with no-one looking for her or realising she was missing, torments Maria on a daily basis.
“The inner turmoil she suffers is as you would expect for a mother mourning the death of her child and to make matters worse, she hasn’t been able to see her or lay her to rest. This is most unimaginable for any family member but particularly a mother.”
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, Specialist Crime, said: “This has undoubtedly been a complex case – the conditions in which both women were found were extremely challenging and I commend the extraordinary work of the forensic experts who helped us piece together the injuries they suffered and retrieve as much evidence as possible.
“I also have the highest praise for the officers who went to Younis’ flat that day – it was a good old-fashioned police hunch that made them force open the freezer, intuition that something just wasn’t right.
“I pay tribute to the victim’s families for their bravery, it must seem incomprehensible that their loved ones have lost their lives and then been found in such awful circumstances.
“Younis is a violent, manipulative man with a history of abusing and controlling vulnerable women, often with transient and chaotic lifestyles like Mihrican and Henriett. However they lived their lives, these women had families, friends, people who cared about them and they died in a truly awful manner.
“Younis’ actions are repugnant to us all. He lied throughout the trial, fabricating a story about how others had been responsible for both deaths; something he only came up with once he had heard the prosecution case against him. I am thankful the jury carefully considered the weight of the evidence against him and have convicted him today.”
Police found properties belonging to both women in Younis’s apartment after a thorough search.
Henriett blood was found on the bedroom carpet while a fingerprint from Mihrican was found in the kitchen.
The remains of the two women only attracted the police officers because Younis had been in prison between September and November 2018 and his electricity supply was disconnected, contributing to the decomposition of the bodies in the freezer and causing a foul smell.
The police said an electricity engineer attended the address on April 11, 2019, to clear the debt on the meter and Younis came to the door holding a can of air-freshener.
Younis had sprayed the air-freshener before allowing the engineer to enter the premises. The police said the electrician noticed the bad smell.
He abounded the apartment and took off shortly after. He was later arrested on April 30, 2019, in W10 while getting into a taxi.
In his defence, Younis told the officers that “It’s my house, it’s my problem. No one else is involved.”
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