A teenager has been found guilty of murdering two sisters after signing a contract with a demon to “sacrifice” women in returning for winning Britain’s National Lottery.
Danyal Hussein, 19, from Blackheath, south London, was convicted on Tuesday, 6 July of murdering Nicole Smallman, 27, a hospitality industry worker, and her sister Bibaa Henry, 46, a social worker, in Fryent Country Park in north west London on 5 June last year.
This "contract" was found in Danyal Hussein's bedroom after the murders
© Photo : Metropolitan Police
The killings took place during the first lockdown and, with pubs and restaurants closed, the sisters chose to celebrate Bibaa’s birthday in the park with a group of around 10 friends.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC told the jury the sisters were “brutally” stabbed to death in the early hours of Saturday 6 June 2020 after their friends had left and the pair danced and played with lights in the darkness.
Mr Glasgow said they were “taken by surprise” when Hussein attacked them for no reason.
Danyal Hussein caught on camera at a supermarket where he bought the knives
© Photo : Metropolitan Police
Hussein attacked Ms Henry first, stabbing her eight times and causing fatal injuries to her heart, and then Ms Smallman was attacked.
She was stabbed 28 times and suffered injuries to her hands as she tried to fight him off.
The killer then concealed both bodies in the undergrowth and was caught on a neighbour’s CCTV camera returning to his father’s home nearby around 4am.
When police searched Hussein’s bedroom they found a handwritten contract with a demon called Lucifuge Rofocale.
The tickets Danyal Hussein bought after signing a contract with a demon to murder women in exchange for winning the lottery
© Photo : Metropolitan Police
Hussein, who signed the ‘agreement’ in his own blood, wrote: “For the Mighty King Lucifuge Rofocale: Perform a minimum of six sacrifices every six months for as long as I am free and physically capable.”
It went on: "Sacrifice only women, build a temple for you, do everything that I have promised."
As part of the deal Hussein wrote that he expected to win the “Mega Millions Super Jackpot” and “never be suspected of any crimes by the police.”
Danyal Hussein arrives at the police station after his arrest on 1 July 2020
© Photo : Metropolitan Police
Hussein, who did not give evidence, claimed he was not the person shown knocking on the door of his father’s home and being let in and claimed it was not him who bought a set of knives in a supermarket a few days before the murders.
His barrister, Riel Karmy-Jones QC, claimed the scientific evidence could have been contaminated and the case against him had not been proven.
In her closing speech on Friday, 2 July, Ms Karmy-Jones said: "The prosecution's case may appear unsinkable. But think of the Titanic."
One of the knives used to kill Nicole Smallman and her sister Bibaa Henry
© Photo : Metropolitan Police
Mr Glasgow, in his closing speech, told jurors: "Given the weight of the evidence against him, only someone who actually believes that an agreement with a demon will work could refuse to accept any aspect of the case against him."
"Perhaps he still believes that Lucifuge Rofocale will come to his aid, but unfortunately for the defendant, there are no deals to be had in these courts and the devil (if he is anywhere) is in the detail," he added.
After the verdict, the prosecutor began reading out the victim impact statements and one of the jurors was seen to break down in tears.
Sentencing is expected to take place later this month as the judge will want psychiatric reports on Hussein.
It has emerged during the trial that Hussein was referred by his school to the government's anti-radicalisation programme, Prevent, in 2017.
He had a long-term interest in Norse mythology, Satanism and the occult.