Rahim Mohammadi strangled Lea Adri-Soejoko with a lawnmower cord and hid the 80-year-olds body at the Colindale Allotments in north London in February last year.
MET POLICE. LEA ADRI-SOEJOKO
Mohammadi was involved in the allotment since 2008 through freedom from Torture, this is an organisation to help torture victims that are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In September 2016 he clashed with the widow at a meeting for the allotments. During a heated argument he called her a “bloody old witch”, the court heard.
The court heard how he had a reputation for being threatening and having a bad temper.
Mrs Adri-Soejoko was the secretary of the Colindale Allotment Association, she was found dead in a locked shed. The alarm was raised about Lea after failing to meet a friend later in the evening which was completely out of character for her. A search by friends and family had already began before they alerted, they police at 01:40 AM on 28 February 2017. Officers immediately started the search for Lea and a former plot holder said he had seen her by the allotments in the afternoon and she was fine.
Police and family went to the allotments where they would ring her phone. Her ringtone could be heard in the plots, so they followed the sound this is when they forced entry to a locked shed and found Lea dead inside. Her face was covered with an old blue coat and the starter cord of a lawnmower inside the shed was wrapped tightly around her neck.
Mohammadi’s DNA was found on the cord used to strangle her and was caught on CCTV coming and going from the allotment.
In February 2017, Mohammadi beat Mrs Adri-Soejoko up on the allotment which caused her to have fractured ribs and bruises. To stop her from reporting the attack he murdered her.
Prosecutor John Price QC said: “Mrs Adri-Soejoko was beaten up. That in turn does point to a motive for her murder – to avoid detection for a shocking and very serious assault on a vulnerable old lady.”
Mohammadi was found guilty of murder and will be sentenced on Friday.
Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, from the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “Although I never had the privilege of meeting Lea, we have learnt what a lovely caring, lady she was, like everyone’s mum or gran. She was a real pillar of the community, a sprightly 80-year-old grandmother who was very active in her local neighbourhood and secretary of Colindale Allotment Association.
“Mohammadi was a fellow plot-holder and someone she had known for some years. He was an aggressive, threatening and highly manipulative man and there had been previous issues with him at the allotments. There is no doubt that Lea was very uncomfortable around him; it could best be described that she tolerated him, but Lea would ultimately pay with her life.
“We don’t know exactly what happened on the day Lea was killed, but we know there must have been some kind of argument which led to Mohammadi brutally attacking her. Knowing he would be in very serious trouble for what he had done, he went a step further and murdered her in the hope he would never been found out.
“I would like to commend the outstanding work carried out by my team to gather the extensive evidence which has led to Mohammadi’s conviction today.
“I would also like to pay tribute to the respect and dignity shown by Lea’s family which has been extraordinary in such terrible circumstances. This crime has torn their family apart and sent shockwaves through a close-knit community. Mohammadi is a violent, evil, and volatile individual and he will spend many years in prison as a result of his appalling actions.”
