Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
E155: The Torso Found In The Thames
4.6k Plays3 years ago
September 2001 was a time Aidan Minter would remember not only because of the September 11th attacks in America but also because of something he saw only ten days later, when walking across Tower Bridge in central London heading for a business meeting. He saw a child’s mutilated torso floating in the water below. Who was this child and who could have been capable of such an abhorrent act?
Use my special link zen.ai/coffeeandcases and use code coffeeandcases to save 30% off your first three months of Zencastr professional. #madeonzencastr
Recommended
Transcript
The Power of Names
00:00:00
Speaker
Names are important. They give us something to identify with or sometimes they provide a sense of value. We've all seen movies, watched television shows, or read books where royals wanted a son to carry on their family name. Passing that title from one male to the next was something of an honor and was respected. Names are often our legacies. Think of famous presidents, actors, scientists who left a lasting impression on the world and will forever be remembered for what they did.
00:00:27
Speaker
For example, we hear the name Franklin Delano Roosevelt and immediately we think of great feats of accomplishment. According to whitehouse.gov, he was elected president in November of 1932 to serve the first of four terms. By March, there were 13 million unemployed and almost every bank was closed. In his first 100 days, he proposed and Congress enacted a sweeping program to bring recovery to businesses and agriculture.
00:00:54
Speaker
released to the unemployment and to those in danger of losing farms and homes and reform, especially through the establishment of the Tennessee Valley Authority. In 1936, he was reelected by a top heavy margin. Feeling he was armed with a popular mandate, he sought legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court, which has been validating key New Deal measures.
Shakespeare and Identity: What's in a Name?
00:01:15
Speaker
Roosevelt lost the Supreme Court battle, but a revolution in constitutional law took place.
00:01:19
Speaker
Thereafter, the government could legally regulate the economy. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Roosevelt directed organization of the nation's manpower and resources for global war. Filling the future peace of the world would depend upon relations between the United States and Russia, he devoted much thought to the planning of the United Nations, in which he hoped international difficulties could be settled." Names are oftentimes our last claim to destiny or to even fame. But despite how much we value names,
00:01:49
Speaker
or what high regards we hold a name in, it doesn't really define us. In the end, it is just the name.
Uncovering Adam's Identity
00:01:56
Speaker
Shakespeare wrote of this idea in Romeo and Juliet, an act to sing to Romeo and Juliet. Juliet speaks of beautiful and now famous soliloquy. Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Thou art thyself not a Montague. What's a Montague?
00:02:09
Speaker
Is it nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man? O, be some other name. What's in a name? That which we call arose by any other name would smell a sweet. So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without the title, Romeo doff thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee, take all myself.
00:02:31
Speaker
What is she saying? Juliet's not allowed to associate with Romeo obviously because he's a Montague and she's a Capulet. But what would happen if Romeo had a different last name? If he were anyone but a Montague, Juliet's father would have no problem with their relationship. If he had any other name it would be fine. She's complaining because in the end his name is meaningless. If a rose had any other name it would still be that same rose. So really we are who we are even if we don't have the same name.
00:03:01
Speaker
names don't really define us, or actions do, but when a little boy is found dead in the Thames River and no one determined his name, we're left wondering if his name were to be determined, what his body had been claimed, and his killer identified.
Podcast Purpose and Host Introductions
00:03:16
Speaker
This is the story of Adam, the torso found in the Thames River,
00:03:54
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
Personal Stories and Technical Glitches
00:04:03
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families with each case. We encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page, coffee and cases podcast, because as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week.
00:04:32
Speaker
Lord, I know you all do not listen to the unedited version, but I'm apparently incompetent today because there's probably going to be about 15 edits for Alison to make in that short little intro.
00:04:47
Speaker
Listen, I am so excited that we are in England because I have fond memories of walking along the River Thames and looking at Big Ben and Parliament.
Personal Accounts from 9/11
00:05:02
Speaker
And right on the Thames is the London Eye, the Big Ferris Wheel. So all kinds of memories there.
00:05:09
Speaker
So is it true that Big Ben, that's just the name of like the clock. Right. Right. Not the name of the.
00:05:21
Speaker
tower or building, are they different things? Well, that I don't know. I would say the clock tower itself is Big Ben. I saw on CNN 10 that they redid part of Big Ben. Oh, I didn't see that. Something with like they restored it to like its original color or something like that. This was a few weeks ago, so y'all know I have no memory, but he was on CNN 10.
00:05:48
Speaker
Well, so Allison, carrying on with a little bit of history, I was in fifth grade when the attacks on 9-11 happened. Oh my gosh, that makes me feel so old. That makes me feel so old. What grade are you in? Well, when 9-11 happened, I was in graduate school. See, I don't feel like there's that much age difference between you two. I don't either, but
00:06:18
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I was in fifth grade. No, it's fine. It's fine. Despite my horrible memory, plus coupled with being so young, I still can remember vivid details from that day. I can picture the classroom I was in, exactly how it was set up. I was
Global Impact of 9/11
00:06:39
Speaker
sitting beside my best friend. I was directly facing the board beside Stephanie in social studies class. When the principal and we were in groups of four,
00:06:48
Speaker
When the principal came over the intercom and told us that the nation was under attack and that he urged all the teachers to turn on the news so that we could watch all these events unfold, which now looking back on it is very traumatic for seven year olds, but it's fine because we saw the second tower collapse. So we saw the plane flying into the tower and then we saw both of them collapsed.
00:07:11
Speaker
And so if you all know me, and I think most of you by this point do, you know that I am extremely anxious and I am also a warrior. I was that kid. I was that kid that cried during like unannounced fire drills in elementary school, fearing the worst had happened and like people were dying. You know, I was just that kid. And my brother had joined the military when I was in fourth grade. So by fifth grade, he was,
00:07:40
Speaker
out of basic training and stationed in texas oh gosh by this point you know now i'm worried for him so even though i was little i knew that this type of attack on the us i knew that we were going to go to war and obviously now i'm worrying for my brother and i don't think a lot of kids in my class understood my
00:08:06
Speaker
reaction to 9-11 because I think they were all just dumbfounded, whereas I was truly traumatized because I think I understood on a deeper level than they did because of my brother. Yours was very concrete. Yeah. The way you thought about it.
00:08:22
Speaker
my mom worked at my elementary school and I'm sure sensing my anxiety ran from the cafeteria because she was a cook there and came and got me from class and of course I'm crying and so she takes me into the library at my school and we watched with the librarian um I sat in my mom's lap as tears ran down my face because I knew that like my world was going to be forever different and one thing
00:08:53
Speaker
I have never really stopped to think about until I started researching this article, or this case, because all this comes back to this, is how 9-11 likely impacted the entire world.
The Case of the Child in the Thames
00:09:06
Speaker
We felt it really close to home, but I never really stopped to think about how that changed the lives of a lot of people. Everybody else, yeah.
00:09:16
Speaker
And so while I was researching today's case, I realized that just like Americans, the rest of the world felt the same shocks of September 11th. According to BU today, quote, the events of 9-11 not only reshaped the global response to terrorism, but raised new and troubling questions about security, privacy, and treatment of prisoners. It reshaped US immigration policies and led to a surge in discrimination, racial profiling, and hate crimes, end quote. Right. So I think everybody kind of felt that, holy crap, if it can happen,
00:09:47
Speaker
you know, in one place it could happen anywhere. Right. And then like you just said, sometimes our reaction to things is more hate of other groups and, you know, pigeonholing and scapegoating and those sorts of things. A lot of people there, I guess coping mechanism is just hate and blame. Right. Which is sad. But I also remember
00:10:15
Speaker
in the days and weeks after 9-11 was just how quiet things felt. Almost like we were lost and didn't really know
00:10:25
Speaker
What to do next, like how to process our emotions. Yeah. Yeah. And the same feeling was also felt across the pond where the story takes place today. So Angus Crawford and Tony Smith, and why do we call it a pond? Why do we say that? I know, I don't know, but yeah, across the ocean, across the pond.
00:10:46
Speaker
I don't know. It's a really big pond. It is a big pond. But Angus Crawford and Tony Smith wrote an article for BBC. And this article actually referenced a lot. And did you say like, how do you say the A in the N? It's like the name Tim. Tim's.
00:11:10
Speaker
It was weird. I think that like my whole life I've been told to pronounce that wrong. But anyways, I think a lot of people are, I think, but yeah, I think it, um, I think it's maybe the way we pronounce different vowel sounds. I think.
00:11:27
Speaker
But these two wrote an article for BBC called, The Torso and the Thames, A 20 Year Mystery. And they talk about this same feeling. And today's story starts just 10 days after the 9-11
Investigation into Ritualistic Killing
00:11:39
Speaker
tax. And Crawford and Smith say that London, just like America, was strangely quiet in the days after. Okay, so we are 10 days pre-9-11. And Aiden Mentor, who was 32 at the time, was walking across
00:11:57
Speaker
Tower Bridge in central London heading for a business meeting. I feel like you can picture all of this. I can. I totally can. And he said, quote, according to this article, the tide was high at the time. I thought it was a tailor's mannequin, he recalls. Oh, no. It's never a mannequin. He rarely speaks about the case, according to the BBC. And of course we know, like you said, one of our life lessons is it's never a mannequin.
00:12:23
Speaker
But Aiden was holding out hope that the thing he was seeing was just, you know, like a torso of a child's mannequin floating along the river. And he goes on to say, then it came under the bridge and that's when I saw the detail, the wounds and the body itself, end quote.
00:12:44
Speaker
So picture that you're like walking, minding your own business, you're on your way to work and you just casually stroll by a torso in the river. I don't know. I don't know. I wouldn't know what to think. Yeah. And I think rightfully so that Aiden is not able to recall a lot of events of, or like doesn't want to talk about it because this is traumatic. And you, wait, you didn't say a body.
00:13:13
Speaker
You know the word torso. And it is just the torso. Yep. And police pulled the torso from the water upstream closer to the Globe Theater. So it, you know, kind of floated for a while. It was determined that the torso belonged to a small African American boy who was between the ages of four and eight. Oh, poor baby.
00:13:39
Speaker
Postmortem investigation showed that the body had been poisoned, and I'll go into a little bit more detail. They were able to determine that it was a boy, obviously, but the throat had been slit to drain the blood from the body. And the head and all limbs were, expertly, was the word used to remove from the torso. Oh my gosh, Maggie! Maggie!
00:14:07
Speaker
When you said torso, I was at least picturing his head. Oh no. I think there's enough there that they can see that his throat was slit. Oh my gosh. Now I know how traumatic this must be and how your mind would probably be like, that has to, that has to be a mannequin. It has to be a mannequin. Oh man.
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, he was headless. So forensic testing actually examined his stomach contents and trace minerals in the bones. And Alison, you- Sounds oddly familiar, because I've done some cases like that.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, you can guess I'm sure that the forensic team were able to determine where he was from, where he had been, that kind of thing based off those minerals, because we've talked about that actually in a couple different cases we've covered. Okay, I'm gonna go off the cuff right here and go ahead
00:15:12
Speaker
I know you haven't told me anything about this, but I do know that you said it is just a torso and I know that you said things were expertly removed. Was he a victim who was somehow like they did some sort of like autopsy? His body was donated to science and things were removed? Um, he was believed to have been part of something where his limbs were removed.
00:15:41
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So there's my pre-hearing the story theory. Okay. Okay. So where did they figure out he was from then? So they're trying to establish where he is from and he comes to be known as Adam because they don't have an identity. So like Adam and Eve. Adam. Yeah.
00:16:01
Speaker
So they're like, is he originally from the UK? Had he been in London for a while? And they were actually able to determine that Adam had only been in the United Kingdom for a few days, maybe a week or so, before he was murdered. That's crazy that they can tell that by minerals in his bones. And furthermore, they were able to determine that he was from a region of southwestern Nigeria.
00:16:29
Speaker
In this city, Benin City, I did not look up the pronunciation of that so I could be wrong. But it is the birthplace of voodoo. There must be some sort of like vegetation or something in the water or food there that allowed them to get that specific.
00:16:52
Speaker
Cause was it with the one that you gave so much background information on that, was it teeth that they used? And hair. Yeah.
00:17:02
Speaker
So because we are able to determine that he was only in the Anani Kingdom for a few days or weeks. He's originally from Southwestern Nigeria. This led investigators just to like believe that Adam was trafficked. Oh, so he was sent there specifically for this creepy ritual, this killing ritual sacrifice.
00:17:29
Speaker
Oh, so they're thinking he was sold for this purpose?
00:17:35
Speaker
So yeah, he is sent to Great Britain specifically for the purpose of this muti killing. I could not find the pronunciation of that because I kept wanting to say multi luck. I was misspelling it, but it's a ritual sacrifice performed by a witch doctor. And in this sacrifice, they use children's body parts to make medical potions. Oh.
00:18:04
Speaker
Yeah. And so I was a little bit curious because in the research, this is just mentioned, but it's not gone into any details about exactly what this is. And so I looked it up and it is as horrific and not marriage as it sounds to be, according to, and this is even kind of creepy. It's so
00:18:29
Speaker
Oh, no, the title. Yeah. Witchcraft accusations and persecution, muting murders and human sacrifice, harmful beliefs and practices behind a global crisis and human rights. Oh, man. Yeah. So in this article, it says heavy reading. Yeah, I didn't do it. I didn't read a whole lot into it, honestly, because I was like, this is a little dark for me. Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:57
Speaker
But beauty is a word used in South Africa to refer to this type of magic that enables people to gain power or wealth. So we're performing this magic to gain power or wealth. So they're going to kill kids to have power.
00:19:15
Speaker
Yeah. And it explains why it's children. So it says the most extreme form uses body parts and people may be killed to provide them. The magic has also performed in parts of Africa as well, but such killings are wildly reported as quote unquote ritual killings. It does say little evidence exists to show that there is any significant ritual involved behind the magic, but, um,
00:19:41
Speaker
this like rights group currently refers to them as muting murders. And I did read that part of this, I don't remember where I read this from, but part of the like idea behind this sacrifice is say a person has given so much luck in their life.
00:20:01
Speaker
Okay, like if you think about all your luck is in a cup and as you get older you drink from that cup and Eventually, you're gonna run out of luck. Mm-hmm. And so the idea behind this would be I want to have more luck So in order to get the most bang for my buck I would want to kill a child because they would have more luck in their pet and you know a 70 year old man Wow, so you're essentially taking their
00:20:29
Speaker
power or their wealth or whatever for yourself. Wow. Yeah. This world is a dark place. I know,
Ongoing Investigation and International Links
00:20:40
Speaker
isn't it? And I feel like we cover a lot of really dark stuff, but I don't know if we've had one that's involved something as scary as this. Right. Gosh.
00:20:54
Speaker
From the torso, investigators were able to tell that there were no signs of physical or sexual abuse and that Adam had been well fed. And this is just further supporting the idea that he was meant as some sort of sacrifice. He had a purpose beyond starvation or beating or sexual assault. Right. Because how would you go from being taken care of to limbs and head removed?
00:21:20
Speaker
Right. Like that's a huge shift. Right. Because I feel like his purpose when he came here was to be in this sacrifice. And so they're keeping him healthy until the time comes.
00:21:34
Speaker
Adam was found wearing only orange shorts and those shorts came into play later in Adam's case. The label was kids and company and the size and color could only be found in a small number of shops in Germany. So he's from Nigeria. His body is found in London. His shorts are only made in Germany. So this is very confusing. Yeah.
00:22:01
Speaker
Allison, if you remember, just like in Boy in the Box and so many other Jane Doe and John Doe cases that we have covered, one would think that somewhere there's a family missing and desperately searching for their child or their cousin or whoever. And if that were the case, it would only be a few days, hours for Adam's family to come forward to claim the body.
00:22:27
Speaker
Police are thinking the same thing and so they air his case Or they put his case out to the public and no one really steps forward more than 60 people called in I read With tips or you know that type of thing, but there were no major breakthroughs Well, here's the thing like how do you even describe him?
00:22:50
Speaker
Well, that's, yeah, that was, they do later on, I think are able to determine more of his details. I don't know if they just kind of did a blanket statement. We have a body of an eight-year-old that had on orange shorts, but that's pretty big. That's a big range of people. But they did get a couple of people that called in, but no family connections were made.
00:23:18
Speaker
And detectives took an unprecedented step in giving Tim the name Adam and then they attach a reward, um, offering the reward for information that could lead to a murder conviction. Wow. In an article called Adam torso in the Tim's unresolved, it says that the Tim's was searched again. So they initially take his body, they search again and they found seven half burnt candles that were wrapped in a white sheet.
00:23:48
Speaker
What? Yeah. And I don't know if this again, though. But it could be something completely unrelated. Like how clean is this river, first of all? And then could it just be something like you said, somebody threw something in the river and they just happened to find out near where they found Adam. Right.
00:24:08
Speaker
It did have a name written on the sheet and also carved into the candles. The investigators looked into whether or not that could be Adam's real name. But when asked about the candles, Detective Inspector Will O'Reilly said, quote, we know with some certainties that the candles and the sheets form part of a ritualistic ceremony. We can't say if they're connected, but at the moment, we're linking them, end quote.
00:24:33
Speaker
Okay. So the sheets in the candle are part of a ritual. They believe that his torso was part of a ritual, but they don't know if it's the same ritual. Right. Is basically what they're saying. Yeah. And I think like we just said, it
00:24:49
Speaker
I think it would be very easy to jump ship and say, oh my God, these definitely are connected. You just found these candles next to this boy's torso. There's no way they're not related. But we also have to think about what's going on in the world at this time, because they later found out that the sheets and the candles were part of a prayer that was done.
00:25:10
Speaker
as a celebration of life by the parents of the person of that name, because he was in New York during the attacks of 9-11 and had survived. Oh, so it really had nothing to do with this. Yeah. And they talk about that a lot too in the research that I did, that 9-11, I think we also covered a case similar to this, like something else really big in the world was happening.
00:25:37
Speaker
But Adam's case didn't get the media attention that it typically would have because of 9-11. Okay, right. So they did determine that the candles had nothing to do with the death of Adam. So the only piece of evidence that investigators had to work with was the pair of orange shorts that the boy was wearing when he was found.
00:26:00
Speaker
Which isn't a lot. Right. You got one item to work with. They, again, we know the shorts are from Kids & Company. That brand is made in China but sold in Germany and Austria, which is where I want to go. I know. That's your dream place.
00:26:23
Speaker
The shorts were traced back to a batch of eight hundred and twenty pairs in that size for ages five to seven, which were sold in three hundred and twenty stores around Germany. So actually, this work did pretty good. Yeah. I mean, that narrows it down. Mm hmm. And as I hinted to earlier, the shorts do play a big role in this case. We know that Adam had connections to Germany.
00:26:52
Speaker
So police expanded their search outside of the UK and I read they teamed up with the police in the Netherlands.
00:27:00
Speaker
after an unidentified white girl was found dismembered on a beach because they're like, could these two things be connected? Could Adam and this girl, you know. But it was eventually determined that there was no connection. The girl was identified and her stepfather was actually charged with the murder, which is, oh my gosh, heartbreaking. Yeah. So there was no link to Adam.
00:27:29
Speaker
Since Allison and I don't work together anymore, recording our podcasts became harder until we found Zencaster. Zencaster is podcast recording the way it should be, web-based, and as easy as creating a link and clicking to join a recording session.
00:27:43
Speaker
If you've been listening to our show for any extended period of time, you know our love for Zencaster and their products. Now, with Zencaster Professional, there's even more to love. Zencaster records video up to 4K. Post-production allows you to balance volumes and reduce background noise in one click.
00:28:01
Speaker
Filler word removal takes out all the ums and ahs that happen in natural speech, and you can now also add your brand's watermark to your work. For the podcaster, the production of an episode is simple from start to finish, recording local audio, inserting pre-recorded audio clips like intro music and ads, and even publishing the episode or setting it to post at a future date and time. It's even easy for guests who aren't tech savvy, and you can add up to 11 separate participants.
00:28:29
Speaker
Go to zencaster.com forward slash pricing and use our code coffee and cases all one word. You'll get 30% off your first three months of Zencaster Professional. We want you to have the same easy experience we do for all your podcasting and content needs. It's time to share your story.
00:28:53
Speaker
All right, Allison. So there's a couple of different theories about Adam. Today's case is different. So we're not going to do like really theories at the end. We're just going to kind of talk about, most people believe this and some people believe this. But there were many that believed that Adam died in this muti sacrifice, but I've read that there are some that believe that
00:29:17
Speaker
theory was quickly disproven. People analyzed information from Adam's case and the investigative psychology unit that did this investigation determined it was likely not a muti murder because his limbs were removed, but his genitals and organs were still intact, which would be uncommon. Again, both a little extreme.
00:29:47
Speaker
But I read a book, Alice Walker's Possessing the Secret of Joy, and it's about female genital mutilation. So that does make sense that
00:30:02
Speaker
You know, because that's where life life is created that that would be that in a in a ritualistic sacrifice that that would have been affected. So that is kind of does make sense. Yeah. So then that made me wonder if which I still believe that it is some type of
00:30:25
Speaker
like sacrifice ritualistic thing. But that made me wonder in this scenario, if we're saying it isn't, could this just maybe have been their way of prolonging the identification process or are they being extra cruel? By removing all the limbs and all that. Yeah. But most people would agree
00:30:52
Speaker
that it was some type of sacrifice. But I did want to say before we get further into the case that there are some people who believe that it wasn't. Okay. So why did they think like, what about it made them think that it is? So I read, according to that unresolved article that I quoted earlier, quote, the team put the Met police in contact with
00:31:22
Speaker
somebody that was called Credo Mutwa?
00:31:28
Speaker
Mm-hmm to provide his insides and again, I'm probably butchering names Because some sources state that the police saw it this guy out themselves. But according to this They were put into contact with him and he says that Adam's death was a result of a ritual sacrifice That's common in West Africa and that the use of the bright orange shorts was also significant The color was Adam's soul was so Adam soul could be resurrected and quote according to this
00:31:58
Speaker
this guy however though this guy and I didn't read in that article what made him credible like is he some type of priest in this culture like I didn't read that
00:32:15
Speaker
But obviously he has some type of credentials that we're putting the police in contact with him. But a lot of people kind of blew off what he said because he was considered by many to be a con man and a fraud. Oh, okay. So maybe he's not telling the truth. Yeah. But I don't think for me personally, because I'm not educated enough in that area, I don't think
Suspects and Human Trafficking Connections
00:32:40
Speaker
that it really matters
00:32:42
Speaker
What type of sacrifice he died in, whether it be one or the other, I do think he died in some sort of sacrificial way. In July 2002, it's so hard to say that now because now I want to say 2022.
00:33:04
Speaker
Yeah. Social workers in Glasgow became worried about the safety of two girls and this ties back in. They were living with their mother. I was going to say, where's this going? Why are we talking about girls? Okay. And she was an African woman in her early thirties named Joyce. Because the social workers expressed concern about the safety of these two girls, Joyce's home was inspected. And according to the BBC, council workers found really bizarre ritualistic objects in her home.
00:33:33
Speaker
So at a court hearing to take the children from her and into protective care, Joyce told a story of cults, killings, and of sacrifices. Now.
00:33:44
Speaker
I did read that Joyce was a very confused woman. Her mental state was questioned by many, so her comments could be off the wall or there could be merit behind what she was saying. But police officers that were present at this hearing were like, holy crap, this is really weird and very
00:34:05
Speaker
coincidental and they thought they were just odd enough to warrant a call to the homicide unit in London. Okay, I'm ready to hear this. And so because of that call,
00:34:18
Speaker
Nick Chalmers searched Joyce's home. And when I was reading, I expected them not really to find anything, you know, but they actually found some things of interest. So remember that Aaron, or Adam, excuse me, or wearing, he's wearing those shorts from that specific company. Well, they found, and they found clothes by kids and company and in the same sizes that Adam would have been in, in Joyce's home.
00:34:48
Speaker
And she's been talking about kids and sacrifice and rituals. And so because of this, they arrest Joyce.
00:34:57
Speaker
Officers were convinced she played an important part in the story, but she, like I said, was confused and kind of kept changing her accounts of what happened. She said she didn't know anything about an Adam. She was unable to explain, you know, this coincidence of having the same size and brand clothing. Especially because it's only in a few stores in Germany.
00:35:22
Speaker
But officers weren't able to charge her with anything because again, we're arresting her solely because she has the same brand. Cause you bought clothes at the same store. Yeah. She did remain in Glasgow waiting for the results of her asylum change or claim because obviously now she's been brought up in front of the judge a couple of different times. So they're like, maybe talk about some deportation. Right.
00:35:48
Speaker
In the meantime, forensic work continued. And by December, it was clear that Adam's DNA did indeed point to West African ancestry. And they performed groundbreaking tests on samples of bone marrow that narrowed down a strip of land around that particular city in Southern Nigeria. So that's how they did it, yeah. Which was coincidental because that's Joyce's hometown.
00:36:20
Speaker
How big is the city? Is this like a big city? Yeah, it is big. One and a half million people. Oh, that's a lot of people. I guess it's not as coincidental as what I thought it was going to be. But still, I mean, to be in
00:36:37
Speaker
Well, we have the same shorts and the same town. Yeah. Right. Especially since the clothing isn't from that city. It's from a different one. So together, that's awfully coincidental. Yeah. Joyce was deported back to Nigeria. Nick and his
00:36:56
Speaker
boss, Detective Inspector Will O'Reilly, who we talked about a little bit ago, actually traveled with Joyce to Nigeria. They charted this private jet. They were hoping if they treated her extra special that she would double Jenny's secret she may have regarding Adam or his case, but she actually didn't say anything. Oh, she just enjoyed her plane flight.
00:37:18
Speaker
Yeah. And I read that the detectives were so disappointed that when they arrived to Nigeria, they didn't even get off the plane. They just like let her out, turned around on the taxi. That was a waste of money. Shortly afterwards, German police revealed that Joyce had lived in Hamburg until late 2001. So she's connected to Adam now in several different ways.
Interrogations and Evolving Stories
00:37:47
Speaker
Finally, in late 2002, police thought that they had reached a breakthrough in the case. They finally thought they had enough evidence to yet again arrest Joyce, and they did, because this time they're like, you know what, we think we have enough to keep her in custody. When they searched her phone, they found that she only had two contacts in her phone. One was a man called Musa Kamara, who was traced to London.
00:38:14
Speaker
Police went to his home to see if he had any possible connection to Adam, and when they arrived at his home, police officers found an animal skull pierced with a nail, liquid potions, and a small packet containing what appeared to be sand or dirt. There were also video tapes labeled rituals.
00:38:36
Speaker
Oh my. Yes. And it was like this drama that showed adults being beheaded. The items seem to be associated with Nigerian rituals and specifically one known as Juju, which we've all heard about, you know, you got mad Juju. Detectives also worked out that Kamara's real name was Kingsley Oho. Oh.
00:39:05
Speaker
So he's going under an alias here in London. So that's never a good sign. And they are like, you know what? Same thing. He's going by this alias. We need to dig deeper into his background and really figure out who this dude is. And that's exactly what they did. So they start digging around and they made some pretty startling discoveries. It was clear that Ojo was involved in human trafficking.
00:39:34
Speaker
So even if he could not be directly connected to this death and this instance of human trafficking with Adam, it's clear he's involved in human trafficking to some extent. So he is put under surveillance.
00:39:47
Speaker
within hours of being released from this questioning and being placed on surveillance, he was back talking to his criminal associates, organizing illegal injuries of Nigerians into the UK. And he was considered a major player in a gang that was smuggling people into the country. Hmm.
00:40:11
Speaker
I feel like this case has so much information. So how the police are following OHO, there's a botanist at Kew Gardens that had been since samples of plant remains that were found in Adam's stomach. So we've talked about that before, and we've talked about that in this case. That can tell us a lot. Well, in 2003,
00:40:37
Speaker
they made a groundbreaking, I think, conclusion. So Adam had been fed parts of two different plants. So first they were able to determine that there were small amounts of this particular bean in his stomach that was known as a doomsday plant. Okay, so this is bad. This is not good. Doom and gloom. Yeah, that's not good.
00:41:05
Speaker
And traditionally, this bean was used in witchcraft ceremonies in West Africa. Oh, so there's the West Africa link again. There's the witchcraft linked again. And at the dosage that Adam would have been given, it would have caused paralysis.
00:41:21
Speaker
So he would have been paralyzed, but he would have still felt pain. Oh no, he just couldn't get away. The second plant that they found was this plant that acts as a sedative and causes hallucinations. So according to the BBC, detectives believed that the mixture was given to Adam before his throat was cut.
00:41:46
Speaker
It would have left it paralyzed and helpless, but still aware of what was happening. Oh my gosh. Which is so sad. Yeah. Oh my goodness. Police were able to arrest Oh Ho, not in connection to Adam's death, but with four charges of people smuggling and using fake documents to obtain a passport and a driver's license. But you know, can I just say, we talked about this with the Jason Derek Brown case. I feel like
00:42:14
Speaker
Oh, obviously is a criminal, but so smart. Like I would have no idea how to obtain documents to get a passport or a new driver's license if I wanted to assume a new identity. Oh, I know. Yeah. Mine would be so botched. They'd be like, this is clearly fake. I mean, I'd be making it on like Canva. Right.
00:42:38
Speaker
The teacher version so you have more options. Yeah, I'd be looking on teachers pay teacher rather fake password on there. Right, right.
00:42:47
Speaker
In July 2004, he did plead guilty to those charges and was sentenced to four years in jail with a recommendation he be deported upon release. And detectives hoped that that threat of deportation would kind of push him to help in their case. I was gonna say they probably arrested him on those lesser charges thinking, okay, we can at least get him on this and then maybe he'll admit more. Right, maybe he'll talk more.
00:43:16
Speaker
In the Crawford and Smith article, it said, quote, we learned that in Brixton prison, he gained a reputation of being a big man. He is alleged to have performed juju ceremonies for money on behalf of other prisoners, one that made him form the police. From his prison cell, Oho contacted the team investigating Adam's death. He said he had secret recordings of Joyce recorded in Nigeria by his associates.
00:43:41
Speaker
He claimed he wanted to help track down the killer and clear his own name." End quote. Which is, if that's true, good for you. Wow. So he's saying, I didn't do it, but I sure know who did. Any names- Yeah, and I can help you. Well, obviously they know each other because his name was in her phone.
00:44:01
Speaker
Right. And I'm wondering if he knows that's how the connection to him was made, you know, probably like blackmail. Yeah. Officers did interview him at the end of his sentence while he was waiting to be deported. He convinced the murder team that he would help them and violate 2005 was released and living back in East London, apparently assisting in this investigation.
00:44:23
Speaker
I did read that for over two years, he fed the police different information. Most of his information would later prove to be lies. Well, I'd be like, this is not working out for us. You're going back to prison. You're going back to prison. He also accused a different woman of leading the sacrificial ceremony back in September of 2001. Police placed an undercover officer in her church for months, but they were never able to conclude that there were any
00:44:53
Speaker
Backbone to this claim that he made Because most of the information police were getting from him ended up being false. He was actually deported back to Nigeria in 2008 and through this whole process the original deportation coming back to London the second deportation he Still claims that he quote done his best to assist investigation false false
00:45:21
Speaker
Also in Nigeria, we have Joyce who reappeared and was interviewed by police. She finally admitted that she had looked after Adam, but this is not his real name. She lived in Hamburg in Northern Germany and that she had bought the orange shorts over found on his body, but she said nothing else. And just like from all I could tell vanished. So now she's saying she had something to do with this. And if it were,
00:45:50
Speaker
just innocent, like she's making it sound, then why wouldn't she have said that from the beginning? Exactly.
00:45:57
Speaker
For three years, investigations continued, but with no significant leads or any advancements. But when detectives searched through Joyce's belongings left with a friend in Germany, they found a pile of photos. One of them showed a boy that was about five who was looking straight at the camera and it was taken in 2001. So was that him? Well, according to the BBC,
00:46:21
Speaker
Detective Sergeant Nick was skeptical about whether it could be Adam, but he had moved on. In early 2011, the photo was given to a news outlet, which tried to track down Joyce in Nigeria. Joyce said,
00:46:38
Speaker
that was Adam in the photo and that his real name is impossible for me to pronounce, but she names it. And she said that she had looked after the boy, but had given him to a man named Bawa. And for some time it seemed that the mystery was solved. Like we knew Adam's name. We knew he was given to this man. Now we're just finding this man.
00:47:02
Speaker
But detectives were unable to positively identify the boy or take the investigation any, like they couldn't move forward. You'd think though, now if they have like a name that they could find family and do some sort of like genetic testing to, you know, verify if that truly is him.
00:47:24
Speaker
So they did put out the photograph and it was determined that it really wasn't Adam. Like the people that knew this boy came forward and was like, nope, this is so-and-so and he's still alive and well, but it's definitely not a dead kid. Well, so now Joyce is lying too.
00:47:42
Speaker
Yeah. And at this point they kind of confront her about it and she's still just really confused. She has all those mental health problems. And she says, actually that boy, he was, his name was Danny. Yeah. But she just keeps suggesting other names. It was Patrick. It never able to verify that it was Patrick. And finally. So it could just be the case that she's so confused.
00:48:12
Speaker
that, you know, kind of pushing her for answers is not going to get you anywhere. Going to help anything. Yeah. Finally, according to the BBC, they showed Joyce one more photograph and she instantly identified the man as the person that she called Bauer. And that is who she says she gave Adam to in Germany in 2001. And the person that she was calling, calling Bauer was Trafficker Kingsley Oho.
00:48:42
Speaker
Yeah. And it was the first time that she had ever connected the two. So he's blaming her and she's blaming him. Yeah. And then the BBC article I read that they were able to track him down, but he wouldn't talk with him or meet with him. He did say that he had no involvement in Adam's murder.
00:49:10
Speaker
And obviously they would have linked him to it if they could have, if they found something in his apartment, you know, specific to Adam. So I'm wondering if there's just not enough information to link him. I don't know, but to this day Adam's case still remains unsolved. I would say given everything you said, I would likely agree that it's ritualistic as well. I think that there's enough to say that
00:49:39
Speaker
He's somehow linked to either Oho or Joyce or both. One of them, I think, in my gut, I would say, brought him to England. But who's responsible for his death? Obviously, we don't know.
00:49:58
Speaker
While Shakespeare would argue that there is no real meaning in a name, I think the nameless that we cover on the show would disagree. They were someone, they are someone. They deserve to be known for who they are and what they offer to this life over how they live this world.
Engaging the Audience and Podcast Mission
00:50:13
Speaker
It's my hope that we will someday see the identity of Adam discovered. In the meantime, Sleuthhounds, keep sharing his story, keep remembering.
00:50:22
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at casescoffee, on Instagram, at coffee cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcastatgmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
00:50:52
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.
00:51:15
Speaker
It's love notes from Maggie and Allison. We want to send some love out this week to Casey, Kelsey, Paige, Mary Jo, Sonya, Terry, Jolene, Twyla, Tony, Tiffany, Julie, Martha, Lena, and Cara, who reached out to us either on email, Facebook, or Instagram.
00:51:37
Speaker
Cara actually wrote us to say, quote, I just wanted to let you girls know how much I love your podcast. You girls are so empathetic to the families when telling these stories and never give anything but the facts and quote, thank you, Cara Cara and Casey wrote
00:51:53
Speaker
Thank you both for your research and candor during your episodes. I have been binge listening during my drive to and from work. Thank you for covering the cases like you do. And those mean a lot to us. Yes they do. Those types of messages. Yes they do. Because I think a lot of the times I've talked about this like with people at work and I think a lot of the times people forget that two families
00:52:19
Speaker
or multiple families suffer in these cases. Yes, the victims and their families suffer, but also the people who we talk about, if it's a suspect or whatever, those families have suffered too. Yeah, absolutely.
00:52:34
Speaker
And we just heard today from Lena who wrote, quote, I just heard of you guys from the Halloween episodes yesterday. I'm a bit of a podcast snob as there's too many out there and I feel I choose the best of them.
00:52:49
Speaker
I'm binge listening now to you guys. Absolutely love you guys." Well, we love you right back. I know. I love hearing from all of our listeners, especially sweet messages like the ones we've gotten recently.
00:53:06
Speaker
And remember, if you do recommend us to friends or strangers, to tag us on Facebook by adding the at symbol before typing coffee and cases. So we know you mentioned us, or you could always write to us. And that way we can give you a shout out on the next show.
00:53:24
Speaker
And we have some major love and a huge shout out going out to Siswa Soul who wrote the following Apple podcast review. Quote, I just started this podcast and have listened to about 10 episodes so far. I love the research that has done and how the hosts try to take a gentle but real approach. Again, we love that. I know. Thank you so much.
00:53:49
Speaker
And we want to send special love to our new Patreon member, Jennifer, who just joined us. And if you haven't yet joined Patreon, you don't want to miss out any longer. You can get bonus content at all of the levels. And we just recorded a really creepy full episode that will be coming out within the next week. So you want to make sure that you are heading over to Patreon. You all know we've had a really busy
00:54:17
Speaker
month of October, but now that November is in the midst, we are catching back up. So you can join at any level, but if you join at the 12, 15 or $20 level for October and November, you will receive the first of the quarterly swag boxes that Alison and I are putting together and we will be mailing those in the next two weeks.
00:54:39
Speaker
And so they're gonna be amazing. And you can join at those levels to be part of the next quarter swag. And with that, all of our love is going out to each of you. Until next week, Sleuthounds.