| Failed businessman killed elderly couple for their money, jury told Odai Salah 'executed' couple in order to steal from them to pay off heavy debts, prosecutor tells Exeter crown courtA failed businessman "executed" a well-to-do elderly couple at their seaside home and stole from them to try to pay off his heavy debts, a jury was told today.Odai Salah befriended Rosemary Windle and Maurece Smith, both 71, by claiming he could put them in touch with business contacts in the Middle East, it is alleged.But in January he armed himself with a knife and went to their flat in Torquay, Devon, where he strangled Windle and stabbed and suffocated Smith, Exeter crown court heard.Salah, 28, allegedly returned at least twice to the flat to make sure there was nothing to raise suspicion, giving himself more time to use the cheques and credit cards he stole.Paul Dunkels QC, prosecuting, told the jury: "This was a cold-blooded execution by the defendant of an elderly couple in order to get money from them."He saw Rosemary Windle and Maurece Smith as an opportunity to get money. He murdered them and he then stole from them. He took their cheque books and credit cards and used them. He stole an expensive camera and camera lenses and sold them."Originally from Jordan, Salah moved to the UK as a student in 2002. He studied at the school of law and social sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University and married in 2007. He set up a food and wine business which failed after two years in 2009, the jury was told.Dunkels said: "The defendant had been in financial difficulties for some time. He had resorted to various deceptions to get money or credit."Credit card companies, banks and other organisations that had lent money to him were pressing him for repayment or for arrears of monies due to be paid. He had no money to repay them."Dunkels said Salah met the couple late in 2009. Windle ran a successful business selling linen and other goods to wealthy clients in the Middle East. Smith suffered problems with his hips and knees and walked with crutches.Salah told Windle and Smith that he could help Windle's business by putting her in touch with contacts in the Middle East, the court heard.Dunkels said: "He was falsely representing himself to the victims as someone who could put valuable business their way. His purpose must have been to convince them that he had financial standing so as to win their confidence and to then somehow persuade them to advance money to him."It was not clear what triggered the attack, Dunkels said. "Perhaps he realised that he could not sustain the story of taking them all to Lebanon for big business any longer and that they could not be persuaded to hand over money to him willingly."He must have determined that the only way to get money from them was to kill them both. That is what he did."After murdering the couple he went to a bank and tried to pay a forged cheque for £27,000 into his own account, it is alleged. Nine minutes later he went into another bank and tried to pay in another forged cheque.The next day he posed as Smith over the telephone to try to pay off a £4,658 debt. He even used one of Smith's cards to pay off a charge after his car was clamped.Three days after the murder the police were alerted by relatives concerned that they had not been able to get in touch with the couple.Police found Smith's body in an armchair covered with blankets and pillows and a cushion over his face. A broken knife blade was found under his body. Windle's body was found in the garage lying on the floor covered by a blanket.Salah, of Torquay, denies murder. The trial continues.CrimeSteven Morrisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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Quango lingo: Bonfire of the vanities, and other inanities The phrase's origins and meaning stretch from Tom Wolfe to reformist monk Girolamo SavonarolaThe dramatic metaphorical idea of a bonfire of quangos has its origins in the very real notion of burning examples of excess. The phrase is perhaps more commonly associated with Tom Wolfe's 1987 novel The Bonfire of the Vanities – a story of greed played out by New York yuppies, subsequently made into a film starring Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis – but Wolfe took the title from the Florentine practice of literally torching anything associated with luxury.The most famous burning took place in 1497, when followers of Girolamo Savonarola – a monk with firm beliefs in austerity who consistently railed against what he perceived as an immoral society – collected and publicly torched objects Savonarola deemed to be associated with sin. Playing cards, mirrors, art, literature, dresses, musical instruments: nothing escaped their wrath.QuangosSpending review 2010Tax and spendingAdam Gabbattguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
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