Louise Kam was lured by fraudsters to a property in East Barnet and then strangled with a hairdryer cord

Gallants Farm Road and (inset, left) murder victim Louise Kam and (inset, top right) killers Kusai Al-Jundi and (inset, bottom right) Mohamed El Abboud (credit Google/Met Police) — Victim Louise Kam (left) was murdered by (top right) Kusai Al-Jundi and (bottom right) Mohamed El Abboud at a property in Gallants Farm Road

Two men have been given life sentences for the murder of a 71-year-old woman who was strangled with a hairdryer cord and then dumped in a wheelie bin.

Today (Wednesday 1st) Mohamed El Abboud, aged 28 of Gallants Farm Road, East Barnet, and Kusai Al-Jundi, aged 25 of Wood End Road, Harrow, were jailed for Louise’s murder. Both men were given life sentences with a minimum term order of 35 years.

Louise Kam, from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, was last seen by a family member near the Spires Shopping Centre in Barnet on 26th July 2021. She was reported missing to police the following day and an investigation was launched to find her.

Louise’s black BMW was recovered by police in Edgware two days later. Her body was discovered on 1st August 2021 in a wheelie bin in Wood End Road, Harrow.

Mohammed El-Abboud, a delivery driver, had been arrested on 28th July with Kusai Al-Jundi, a chef at a kebab restaurant, arrested the following day.

Officers established that over a period of some months, Kusai Al-Jundi had planned to deceive Louise into signing over two properties that she owned, one in Gallants Farm Road, Barnet, and the other in High Road, Willesden, convincing her he was wealthy and had financial backers. Louise had seen this as an opportunity to sell the properties and as a fresh start for her and her family.

They met her at the Gallants Farm Road address to finalise arrangements on 26th July and she was killed there at some point that day. The following day, Al-Jundi began to use Louise’s mobile phone to send messages to her friends and family pretending that she was alive and well, and that she had gone on holiday. But those who knew her best realised that this was a lie and that the messages they were being sent could not have been written by her.

Later that day, El-Abboud sold Louise’s BMW to an unsuspecting buyer. He bought new clothes with the proceeds and posted a TikTok video of him dancing and gyrating to music in the driveway of the Barnet home. Louise’s body was placed in a bin and on 28th July moved to Wood End Road in Harrow.

The police investigation linked the two men to the killing, establishing that the mobile phone messages had been sent using the wi-fi at Al-Jundi’s restaurant in Willesden and finding traces of both men’s DNA on a pair of gloves wrapped up with Louise’s body. They examined thousands of hours of CCTV to track the defendants’ movements and link them to Louise, and interviewed dozens of potential witnesses. El-Abboud’s DNA was found on a hair dryer; the electrical flex had been removed and used to strangle Louise. Her blood and fibres from her clothes were found on a jumper he was wearing.

When handing down the pair’s sentences today, the judge paid tribute to the officers involved in “this thorough, detailed and highly efficient investigation”.

Detective Chief Inspector Brian Howie, who led the investigation, said: “This was a despicable, calculated and callous crime of greed carried out by two young men against an elderly lady.

“Over a number of months, Al-Jundi attempted to plunder her life savings and take ownership of her properties. El-Abboud assisted his friend in bringing the plot to a fatal conclusion; Louise was strangled and her body dumped unceremoniously in a rubbish bin.

“Heartless attempts were then made to deceive her family and friends as to her whereabouts.

“As a result of a painstaking investigation, my team discovered evidence that conclusively linked both defendants to the murder of Louise.

“My thoughts and sympathies remain with the family and friends of Louise who, despite this verdict, may never get over the tragic circumstances surrounding her death.”

Catherine Gould, a prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This horrific crime is a tale of greed taken to extremes. Al-Jundi and El-Abboud selfishly and brutally ended Louise Kam’s life for their own ends.

“These defendants hatched a plan to kill Louise and profit from her death.

“Al-Jundi sent false text messages purporting to be from Louise to her family and friends claiming that she had left the country and even had the audacity to claim that she had defrauded him at a time when he knew full well that she had been killed.

“El-Abboud confessed to a friend that he had killed Louise but denied this at trial. We are grateful that the jury saw through his lies. The police worked quickly to establish that Louise had come to harm and to secure the evidence to present a strong and compelling case to put before the jury.

“Our thoughts remain with Louise’s family and friends and we sincerely hope that these guilty verdicts will bring them some comfort.”

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