Marriage poisoned by lust and greed

By Chris Summers
BBC News

The husband of a special constable, and two other men, have been jailed for life for her murder. The trial revealed a tale of lust, greed and betrayal.

FADI AND NISHA Fadi Nasri, who was of Lebanese Muslim origin, married Nisha Patel on 6 May 2003, followed four days later by a Hindu ceremony In 2004 Nasri started up a limousine company with a £50,000 loan from Nisha In November 2005 they took out a £350,000 mortgage on a house in Sudbury Avenue, Wembley. Nisha paid the £52,000 deposit, after borrowing money from her brother, Katen In February 2006 Nasri begins an affair with a Lithuanian prostitute On 11 May 2006 Nisha was stabbed to death outside her home

Nisha Patel-Nasri's husband, Fadi Nasri, had fallen in love with another woman and thought he could extricate himself from his three-year-old marriage by having his wife killed.

Her life was insured for £350,000, which, along with other insurance policies that covered their mortgage, would allow him and his lover to start a new life.

Nasri, as the main beneficiary of Nisha's will, also stood to gain a half share in the Patel family home.

The house, in Wembley, had been left to Nisha and her brother, Katen, in their mother's will.

Nasri had kept the affair from his wife and he kept it secret from detectives for many months.

Detective Constable Sid Shenoi told the trial how he initially laughed off claims of an affair.

She said: "Fadi laughed and said that she was just a friend and he went on to say that he did not have a sexual relationship with Laura [Mockiene] as she was taller than him."

But eventually, confronted with evidence including a picture found on his mobile phone, he admitted having an affair with a Lithuanian woman, Laura Mockiene.

Mr Nasri and Ms Mockiene pictured on holiday after his wife's death

DC Shenoi said: "He would meet her approximately once a week and they'd go to hotels for sex."

Detectives also discovered he had even taken his mistress on holiday to Egypt in March 2006, having told his wife he was going to visit a sick uncle.

DC Shenoi said: "He said Nisha was not aware of his extra-marital affair, and that Nisha was the jealous sort."

Sex life

But two of her friends noticed things were not right with the couple.

Nisha's best friend PC Lena Parry told the court she had seen the couple arguing about their sex life, with Nisha warning her husband: "If I'm not getting any sex at home I will have to look elsewhere."

She said she took it as a joke but she knew Nisha did not like spending so many evenings on her own and also wanted to start a family.

Mr Nasri enjoyed the lifestyle he was living with Nisha but he'd now met someone else and if he was to leave the relationship, if he'd simply divorced her he'd have to walk away from that money Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola

Another friend, Rosemin Singh, said Nisha nicknamed her husband "dosser", because she thought he was lazy.

Detectives learnt he was heavily indebted and had taken out £350,000 in life insurance on his wife two months before she died.

Following her death, he played the role of the grieving husband in public.

But in the months following the killing he travelled to Spain, Egypt, Los Angeles and Las Vegas on holiday with his mistress. Later that year she moved into his flat in Friern Barnet, north London.

At his trial Nasri denied killing Nisha so he could be with his mistress.

Asked by his counsel, Orlando Pownall QC, if he had been in love with her at the time of Nisha's death, he denied it but added: "She was there for me after my wife died and she was watching me grieve. Over time my feelings would grow."

Nasri took this picture of his lover on holiday in Egypt

But Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola said: "We think Nisha was killed because Mr Nasri was enjoying a high-flying lifestyle with trips abroad, he enjoyed that lifestyle but a lot of money came from Nisha and the money for the deposit on their house came from her brother.

"I think Nisha was killed for money. Mr Nasri enjoyed the lifestyle he was living with Nisha but he'd now met someone else and if he was to leave the relationship, if he'd simply divorced her he'd have to walk away from that money."

Furious family

DCI Scola said Nasri was a "controlling and calculating" individual who had carried out the ultimate betrayal.

As the Patel family mourned Nisha's death, they shared their grief with Nasri.

But when it later emerged that he had been having an affair they were furious.

Nasri said the Patel family was angry and did not want to have anything more to do with him.

Their mood was exacerbated when his solicitor applied for a special order freezing certain assets, including Katen's home, pending Nisha's will being sorted out.