The death of Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen in London 15 years ago is back in the spotlight this week after a surprise confession by the prime suspect in the case.
Farouk Abdulhak, the son of a Yemeni billionaire who fled to Yemen within hours of Vik Magnussen’s death in 2008, told a BBC reporter that the 23-year-old had died as a result of a “sex accident gone wrong”.
The revelation was broadcast in a documentary This World: Murder in Mayfair, which screened on BBC Two last night.
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Abdulhak has been the subject of an international arrest warrant and appears on Scotland Yard’s 12 most wanted criminals list. Until recently he had declined to speak to the press about the incident, let alone offer any information about the night in question.
Who was Martine Vik Magnussen?
Vik Magnussen was born in Oslo on 6 February 1985 and grew up on Nesøya, a small island east of the Norwegian capital.
After graduating from a private school, she enrolled to study medicine at the Warsaw Medical University in Poland. But she later switched to international business at Regent’s Business School London.
Magnussen’s friends described her as “gentle, inclusive and generous”, while her father said she was a “light, jolly, enjoyable person” who was “pure sunshine”.
In an article for The Daily Telegraph in 2009 to mark the first anniversary of his daughter’s death, Odd Petter Magnussen said that by “socialising with her international classmates in London, Martine came close to the textbook definition of tolerance so much appreciated in today’s secular world”.
What happened to her?
Vik Magnussen disappeared after a night out at Maddox nightclub in Mayfair in March 2008. The 23-year-old had been celebrating exam results with fellow students from the city’s Regent’s Business School including Farouk Abdulhak.
CCTV footage showed her leaving the club at around 2am with Abdulhak, “who she had previously dated”, said the Daily Mail. Two days later, her semi-naked body was found “among rubble” in the basement of the building where Abdulhak lived in Great Portland Street in central London.
The BBC reported that “within hours of her death”, Abdulhak had travelled to Egypt and then on to Yemen, allegedly on his father’s private jet.
A post-mortem examination gave Magnussen’s cause of death as compression to the neck, and an inquest in 2010 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. Police said Abdulhak was wanted for her rape and murder.
What did Abdulhak say?
“I did something when I was younger, it was a mistake,” Abdulhak told the BBC.
The confession came during a five-month correspondence between Abdulhak and reporter Nawal Al-Maghafi, who led the investigation for the BBC documentary.
However, in his communication with the journalist, Abdulhak stressed that the death was not intentional. “It was just an accident. Nothing nefarious,” he said.
Describing the significance of the comments, Odd Petter Magnussen told the Mail Online: “It’s a game-changer. He’s no longer a suspect, he’s now a killer. That changes the whole perspective in Yemen from a political point of view and with regards to his family, who may now be able to put more pressure on him.”
What will happen next?
Despite extensive international efforts, the Met Police have so far not been able to question Abdulhak, because there is no extradition treaty between Britain and Yemen.
An ongoing campaign by the Martine Foundation for Justice has been supported by high-profile figures including former Norwegian prime minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, but all diplomatic channels to force Abdulhak to return to the UK for questioning have failed.
The London Evening Standard reported in 2014 that “high-level” talks had taken place between then foreign secretary William Hague and his Yemeni counterpart, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, and between Scotland Yard and Abdulhak’s lawyers. But until now, there have been relatively few developments in the case.
Magnussen said he believes that may all be about to change.
“I’ve been talking to both the legally elected government and the Houthi movement, who control the area where he is residing,” he said. “We’ve had a dialogue with them for the last one-and-a-half years and they’ve managed to pinpoint a possible solution within a year.”
Asked whether that solution may mean Abdulhak’s extradition to the UK, Magnussen said: “Absolutely, this is a burden for Yemen.”
The documentary that yielded the confession may have been “trial by television”, said The Telegraph’s Jasper Rees, but it was “made necessary by diplomatic failure” that has meant Abdulhak has never had to answer questions from police about Vik Magnussen’s death.
“Television as an instrument of inquiry did its best,” Rees said. “It got a story, and filmed itself doing so.”
