Adam (murder victim)

Last updated

"Adam" was the name police gave to an unidentified male child whose torso was discovered in the River Thames in London, United Kingdom, on 21 September 2001. Investigators believe the child was likely from southwestern Nigeria, and that several days before his murder, he was trafficked to the United Kingdom for a muti ritual sacrifice. [1] To date, nobody has been charged with Adam's murder, and his true identity remains unknown. [2]

Contents

Background

On 21 September 2001, the torso of a young boy was discovered in the River Thames, near Tower Bridge in central London. Dubbed "Adam" by police officers, [1] the unidentified remains belonged to a black male, around four to eight years old, who had been wearing orange girls' shorts. [3] [4]

The post-mortem showed that Adam had been poisoned, his throat had been slit to drain the blood from his body, [5] and his head and limbs had been expertly removed. [2] [3] Further forensic testing examined his stomach contents and trace minerals in his bones [5] to establish that Adam had only been in the United Kingdom for a few days or weeks before he was murdered, [5] and that he likely came from a region of southwestern Nigeria near Benin City [1] known as the birthplace of voodoo. [5] This evidence led investigators to suspect that Adam was trafficked to Britain specifically for a muti killing, [1] [5] a ritual sacrifice performed by a witch doctor that uses a child's body parts to make medicinal potions called "muti". [3]

Investigation

Unable to find a match for Adam in databases of missing children in Britain and Europe, investigators made requests to the public for assistance. However, the story initially only received moderate publicity, due its proximity to the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. In the UK, coverage and interest in the case increased over the next year, and rewards were offered for information leading to the killers' conviction, or to Adam's identification. However, the story had not yet received much publicity in Nigeria. [3]

When the investigation had reached an impasse in 2002, London officials flew to Johannesburg, South Africa, where Nelson Mandela, Nobel Prize winner and former President of South Africa, made a public appeal requesting any information that might be relevant to help the police in London identify Adam. [3] Mandela's appeal was broadcast all over Africa and translated into tribal languages, including Yoruba, the local language in the region that investigators linked to Adam. [1] [3]

In 2003, London Metropolitan police travelled to South Africa to consult detectives and muti experts of the SAPS. The experts suggested that the orange shorts meant Adam was related to his killers. In Muti rituals, the colour red is the colour of resurrection: accordingly at least one of Adam's killers was related to him, and was trying to apologise to his soul, praying that he might rise again. [6]

The police subsequently travelled to Nigeria and launched a campaign to track Adam's parents. Despite visiting elementary schools and looking at reported missing children in the region, there was no success. [4]

Developments

On 29 March 2011, it was reported that the torso was that of a 6-year-old named Ikpomwosa, after a television crew managed to track down a woman who used to care for him in Germany, due to his parents being deported back to Nigeria. Joyce Osiagede, a mother of two, had told ITV's London Tonight that she handed the 6-year-old to a man—reportedly named Bawa—who proceeded to take the child to London. Detectives said that this was a "major breakthrough".

In February 2013, the BBC was contacted by Osiagede, who declared that she was prepared to tell them everything she knew about the boy. Osiagede revealed that Adam's real name was in fact Patrick Erhabor, and not Ikpomwosa. [7] She also identified Bawa as Kingsley Ojo, and said that she had wrongly identified a photograph that had been circulating in the press as Patrick, when it was in fact of a friend's living son. However, police doubts about her mental state meant that these claims are doubted by detectives, and thus, Adam has never been formally identified. [2]

The Metropolitan Police believe the publicity surrounding the case has acted as a deterrent for further ritual crimes in the United Kingdom. [4]

Linked cases

In July 2002, a Nigerian woman arrived in the United Kingdom from Germany, claiming to have fled from a Yoruba cult that practised ritual murders. She claimed that they attempted to kill her son, and that she knew Adam was murdered in London by his parents. However, police searching her flat found orange shorts with the same clothing label as those found on Adam. [4] In December 2002, she was deported back to Nigeria.

Surveillance of the woman's associates brought the police to another Nigerian, a man named Kingsley Ojo. Searches of Ojo's house found a series of ritual items, but none of the DNA on the items matched Adam's DNA. [4] In July 2004, Ojo was charged with child trafficking offences, and jailed for four years. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnie Madikizela-Mandela</span> South African activist and politician (1936–2018)

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist, convicted kidnapper, politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003, and from 2009 until her death, and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996. A member of the African National Congress (ANC) political party, she served on the ANC's National Executive Committee and headed its Women's League. Madikizela-Mandela was known to her supporters as the "Mother of the Nation".

Pedicide, child murder, child manslaughter, or child homicide is the homicide of an individual who is a minor. In many legal jurisdictions it is considered an aggravated form of homicide. The age of the victim may constitute an aggravated factor for homicide offenses, or child murder may be a stand-alone criminal offense.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Joseph Augustus Zarelli</span> Formerly unidentified American murder victim, d. 1957

Joseph Augustus Zarelli, previously known as the "Boy in the Box", "Boy in a Box" or "America's Unknown Child", was an American 4-year-old male whose nude, malnourished, beaten body was found on the side of Susquehanna Road, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 25, 1957. Joseph appeared to have been cleaned and freshly groomed, with a recent haircut and trimmed fingernails, although he had suffered extensive physical attacks prior to his death, with multiple bruises on his body. He was also severely malnourished. His body was covered with scars, some of which were surgical. Authorities believe that the cause of death was homicide by blunt force trauma.

Anthony John Hardy was an English serial killer who was known as the Camden Ripper for dismembering some of his victims. In November 2003, he was sentenced to three life terms for three murders, but police believe he may have been responsible for up to six more.

Murder for body parts also known as medicine murder refers to the killing of a human being in order to excise body parts to use as medicine or purposes in witchcraft. Medicine murder is viewed as the obtaining of an item or items from a corpse to be used in traditional medicine. The practice occurs primarily in sub-equatorial Africa.

Events from the year 2002 in the United Kingdom. This year was the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

Levi Bellfield is an English serial killer, sex offender, rapist, kidnapper, and burglar. He was found guilty on 25 February 2008 of the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, and sentenced to life imprisonment. On 23 June 2011, Bellfield was further found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler. On both occasions, the judge imposed a whole life order, meaning that Bellfield will serve the sentence without the possibility of parole. Bellfield was the first prisoner in history to have received two whole life orders.

Martin Edward Brunt is crime correspondent for Sky News. He joined the channel at its launch in 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitechapel murders</span> 1880s East End of London serial murders

The Whitechapel murders were committed in or near the impoverished Whitechapel district in the East End of London between 3 April 1888 and 13 February 1891. At various points some or all of these eleven unsolved murders of women have been ascribed to the notorious unidentified serial killer known as Jack the Ripper.

James Seipei, also known as Stompie Moeketsi or Stompie Sepei, was a teenage United Democratic Front (UDF) activist from Parys, South Africa. He and three other boys were kidnapped on 29 December 1988 by members of Winnie Mandela's bodyguards. He was murdered on 1 January 1989, the only one of the boys to be killed.

Children have been accused of witchcraft, both historically and in contemporary times, in societies that harbor beliefs about the existence of witches and black magic. These accusations have led to punishment, imprisonment, torture, and execution of children.

The history of the Metropolitan Police in London is long and complex, with many different events taking place between its inception in 1829 and the present day.

Jeffrey Howe was a British businessman who was murdered by Stephen T. Marshall.

Sidney Charles Cooke is an English convicted child molester, murderer and suspected serial killer serving two life sentences. He was the leader of a paedophile ring suspected of up to twenty child murders of young boys in the 1970s and 1980s. Cooke and other members of the ring were convicted of three killings in total, although he was only convicted of one himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gemma McCluskie</span> British television actress

Gemma Rose Veronica McCluskie was an English actress. Her most notable role was in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, in which she played Kerry Skinner between 2000 and 2001.

Richard Hoskins is an author and criminologist, with expertise in African ritual crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Mark Tildesley</span> Murder of an English schoolboy, appeared on the first episode of "Crimewatch UK".

Mark Anthony Tildesley was a seven-year-old English child who disappeared on 1 June 1984 whilst visiting a funfair in Wokingham, Berkshire. A widespread search of the Wokingham area, involving both police officers and British Army soldiers, did not locate him. Thames Valley Police initially suspected that his body was buried near Wellington Road in Wokingham, near the funfair from which he was abducted, but they now believe that he was probably buried in a shallow grave on abandoned farmland.

<i>The Boy in the River</i> 2012 book by Richard Hoskins

The Boy in the River is a 2012 book by the British author and criminologist Richard Hoskins about the 'Adam' murder case.

The Thames Torso Murders, often called the Thames Mysteries or the Embankment Murders, were a sequence of unsolved murders of women occurring in London, England from 1887 to 1889. The series included four incidents which were filed as belonging to the same series. None of the cases were solved, and only one of the four victims was identified. In addition, other murders of a similar kind, taking place between 1873 and 1902, have also been associated with the same murder series.

Vishal Mehrotra was an eight-year-old boy who was abducted from Putney, London, England, on 29 July 1981. The child's partial remains were discovered on 25 February 1982 on an isolated farm in Sussex. The killers were never identified and no one has ever been charged with the murder.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Torso murder inquiry moves to Nigeria", BBC News, 27 February 2003, retrieved 6 May 2016
  2. 1 2 3 Crawford, Angus (7 February 2013). "Torso case boy 'identified'". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Butcher, Tim (19 April 2002), "Mandela's plea over torso boy", The Telegraph, Johannesburg, retrieved 6 May 2016
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Torso in the Thames (TV production). Channel 4 Television, UK. 2003.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Owen, James (10 February 2005), "London Witchcraft Murder Traced to Africa Child Trade", National Geographic, archived from the original on 13 February 2005, retrieved 6 May 2016
  6. ↑ Richard Hoskins (16 October 2011), Torso in the Thames Adam's Story , retrieved 15 June 2019
  7. ↑ Crawford, Angus (21 September 2021). "The torso in the Thames: A 20-year mystery". BBC News. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  8. ↑ Rosie Cowan (27 July 2004). "Jail for torso case people smuggler". The Guardian . London. Retrieved 13 February 2009.

Further reading


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.