UK teenager convicted of killing two sisters over demonic pact to win lottery

A 19-year-old British teenager, Danyal Hussein on July 6 was convicted of murdering two sisters while they celebrated a birthday in a London park. As per reports, the crime was driven by the man’s deluded belief that the killings would help him win a lottery jackpot after he came through a government “deradicalisation” programme. Hussein murdered Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46 in June 2020 and was reportedly said to have drawn up a “contract” in his own blood with a demon to sacrifice women in return for the lottery win.

As per The Guardian report, even though the dual murder is not treated as a terrorist attack, the crime can now be reported that investigators consider Hussein underwent “a form of radicalisation” in terms of exposure to occult material on the so-called dark web. In a remarkable case, the investigators also believe that the 19-year-old would have continued killing more women if he had not wounded his hand when he murdered both Smallman and Henry.

Hussein tried to put down the injury to being robbed at knifepoint on a visit for hospital treatment the following day. As per reports, after the jury’s guilty verdict on Tuesday, Justice Whipple adjourned the sentencing of Hussein to September 22 at the Old Bailey. She also ordered reports into his mental health and the impact of his autism while urging the 19-year-old to co-operate with doctors. The Justice also issued instructions for the disclosure of prison inmate reports and records of internet searches carried out by Hussein in prison.

As per The Associated Press report, the prosecutors said that the 19-year-old did not know the victims had pledged to kill at least six women every six months in the belief that he would win the Mega Millions Super Jackpot lottery. Prosecutors have alleged that Hussein was obsessed with demons and spells and hence, signed a bloody pact with a mythical figure known as King Lucifuge. After several months, he was traced through DNA as he cut himself as he attacked the sisters. 

Victims’ mother criticised police response

Reportedly, the victims’ mother Mina Smallman has criticised the way police had responded when her daughters were reported missing on the evening of June 6, 2020. Smallman is a retired Church of England archdeacon and stated that the law enforcement officers showed a lack of urgency after looking at one daughter’s address and seeing her as “a Black woman who lives on a council (public housing) estate.”

Eventually, it was the family that launched its own search. The sisters’ bodies were discovered in bushes by Nicole Smallman’s boyfriend 36 hours after the killings. Family members even found the weapon used in the slayings nearby. This has prompted an investigation by Britain’s police watchdog over the handling of the case by the police who were looking into the missing persons report.

Reportedly, two police officers have also been charged with misconduct in public office for allegedly sharing pictures of the crime scene on WhatsApp. Mina Smallman reportedly said that while she had “made no bones” about her criticism of London’s Metropolitan Police, “today I have to say that I can only commend them.”

IMAGE: AP

(With AP inputs)