Arrest in connection with the murder of Sabina Nessa in London.
A 36-year-old man has been detained in connection with the death of Sabina Nessa, a schoolteacher who vanished on Friday night while walking five minutes from her southeast London home to a pub to meet friends.
Koci Selamaj, of Eastbourne, East Sussex, on England’s south coast, was detained early Sunday and charged with murder, according to a statement from the London Metropolitan Police. On Tuesday, he was expected to appear in court. Selamaj, an Albanian delivery driver, was apprehended in a 3 a.m. raid, according to The Times of London.
Nessa, 28, was discovered by a dog walker at approximately 5:30 p.m. Saturday, concealed beneath a pile of leaves in a park, according to The Independent. Authorities suspect she was attacked sometime between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Friday.
The dog walker, who has not been recognized officially, initially believed the woman had passed out on her way home from a party and knelt to speak with her, neighbor Fiona Oletu, 23, told The Independent.
“He was on the other side of the path walking his dog,” she explained. “He crossed over and commented on how unusual it was that someone was passed out and covered in leaves. As a result, he sat down and began conversing with her, believing she had been inebriated and passed out.”
He then wiped away the leaves, noticed blood, and realized something was seriously wrong, she explained.
“She lacked a pulse and was not breathing,” Oletu explained. “His phone died, so he borrowed another and then called the cops.”
The Guardian claimed that Nessa’s elementary school lamented the loss of a “great teacher.”
“We are grieved by Sabina’s untimely death,” Lisa Williams, head of Lewisham’s Rushey Green primary school, told The Guardian. “She was nice, considerate, and completely devoted to her students. She still had a lot of life ahead of her and so much more to give, and her death is heartbreaking. As a school, we are assisting one another through this extremely trying period, and we will provide specialized help to those who require it.”
