LONDON: Two men were each sentenced on Wednesday to a minimum of 35 years in jail for murdering a 71-year-old woman after attempting to take control of two properties she owned in the capital.
The court was told that Mohamed El-Abboud, 28, and Kusai Al-Jundi, 25, lured Louise Kam to her property in Barnet on July 26, where she was strangled with a hair dryer cord.
Her body was wrapped in a duvet, thrown in a bin and covered in garden waste, Sky News reported.
Al-Jundi spent months attempting to dupe Kam into handing over control of two properties she owned in London by offering her millions of pounds.
Judge Mark Lucraft said that Al-Jundi falsely claimed to be a “person of means” with support from a multimillionaire girlfriend. He also attempted to take control of Kam’s finances by convincing her to sign a lasting power of attorney document, Sky News reported.
Kam, realizing the scam, refused to sign over the properties.
Al-Jundi decided to murder Kam to obtain her £4.6 million ($5.6 million) assets and promised El-Abboud a share “as a reward for killing her,” the judge said.
Investigators said that Al-Jundi sent Kam’s family and friends messages pretending she was alive and on vacation.
Meanwhile El-Abboud sold Kam’s BMW and used the proceeds to buy new clothes.
El-Abboud also posted a TikTok video showing him dancing in the driveway of Kam’s home.
The two men were convicted on Jan. 19 based on police evidence linking them to the murder, Sky News reported.
Sentencing both to life in prison, with a minimum term of 35 years, the judge said: “El-Abboud, it might be said that Al-Jundi played the lead role in the long-running defrauding of Louise, but I draw no distinction on the sentence to be passed on the two of you.
“The evidence clearly shows what you did and did willingly and that you, along with Al-Jundi, did what you did out of greed.”
