From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue May 19 2009 - 13:32:18 EDT
Schoolgirl, 15, 'stabbed to death by obsessive ex-boyfriend' was knifed more
than 30 times
By Dan Newling
Last updated at 6:06 PM on 19th May 2009
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[image: schoolgirl Arsema Dawit]
Schoolgirl Arsema Dawit was found with multiple stab wounds in a lift
Police were warned that a dangerous obsessive had threatened to kill a
15-year-old choirgirl just two weeks before he stabbed her to death in a
lift outside her home, a court heard today.
Schoolgirl Arsema Dawit's elderly mother begged police to arrest her
daughter's 'jealous and possessive' former boyfriend after he beat up his
ex-partner then threatened to kill her.
However Eritrean refugee Thomas Nugusse, 22, was not stopped - and two weeks
later was able to follow Arsema home from school and stab her over 30 times
in the neck.
The Old Bailey today heard that Nugusse and his victim met while attending
St. Michael's church in Camberwell, south London, which has a mainly
Eritrean congregation.
Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse said that Nugusse, a civil engineering student
who moved to Britain aged 17, became so possessive of his young girlfriend
that he forbade her from talking to friends.
He was so dominating, Miss Whitehouse told the court, that he would 'snap
his fingers and she would jump and do anything he wanted'.
After two years together the relationship ended in April last year, at which
point Nugusse became 'gripped by jealousy and possessiveness', Miss
Whitehouse said.
Five weeks before the fatal assault, he attacked Arsema after spotting her
in a branch of McDonald's. She was left with a bruises and swelling around
her eye simply 'because she greeted another male who had passed her table'.
Two weeks later, Arsema's mother Tsehaynesh Medhane (CORR) travelled with
her daughter to Kennington police station to report the incident and show
police a photograph of her daughter's injuries.
In a witness statement read to the court, Mrs Medhane said: 'I went to the
police station and showed them the photograph. I asked police to arrest
him.'
While they were at the police station, Nugusse sent a text message to
Arsema, which was shown to detectives. The court was not told what action,
if any, the police took.
[image: tower block]
Tower block: Flats in Lambeth where the schoolgirl died
Apparently undeterred by Mrs Medhane's visit to the police station, Nugusse
later rang her to promise: 'I'll kill her one day.' He told a friend of
Arsema's: 'I am going to sort her out and kill her. Don't worry about
that.'
The jury were shown CCTV footage apparently showing Nugusse following Arsema
to her family's flat near Waterloo railway station on the afternoon of June
2nd last year.
The court was told that Arsema suffered over 30 stab wounds to her body -
mainly around the neck - and died within minutes of the attack at around
3.30pm. The schoolgirl's lifeless body was found lying in a pool of her own
blood in the council block's lift.
After viewing more CCTV footage which showed Nugusse - now wearing
apparently blood-stained clothes - walking away from the block, the jury was
played a tape recording of a 999 call made as he walked away from the scene
of the crime.
During the phone call Nugusse, who moved to Britain aged 17, apparently
confesses to the murder, explaining: 'She was cheating on me.... she was
cheating on me for three months'.
[image: Arsema Dawit funera]
Arsema was buried on a hillside in war-torn Eritrea
Nugusse told the 999 operator that he planned to kill himself by throwing
himself into the Thames. However, police were able to arrest him on the
Hungerford Bridge before he jumped.
Thomas Nugusse was not in court today as he has been deemed to be 'unfit to
stand trial'. The court has been told since his arrest he has made two
attempts to commit suicide while in custody.
In the most recent attempt - an attempted hanging on 24th June last year -
his brain was starved of oxygen and he suffered brain damage. The court was
told that as a result Nugusse is now unable to communicate or participate in
proceedings.
Because he is not fit to appear, the jury will not be asked to determine
Nugusse's guilt or innocence.
Instead they will be asked to determine whether he carried out the killing.
The case continues.se had said to her 'do you love me? Because if you don't
love me I will kill you.'
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