Twisted true crime fanatic is jailed for knifing screaming mum to death in random beach attack after prowling for victim
A TWISTED true crime fanatic has been jailed after knifing a mum to death in a random beach attack.
Nasen Saadi, 20, “butchered” 34-year-old Amie Gray on Durley Chine Beach in Bournemouth as she screamed: “Get off me.”
The twisted criminology student also stabbed Amie’s pal Leanne Miles 20 times – leaving her seriously injured in the horror attack.
Saadi has now been jailed for life with a minimum of 39 years after he was found guilty of murder and attempted murder following a trial.
In a victim impact statement, Amie’s wife Sian Gray said she cannot understand how a person can so “maliciously and pointlessly” take someone’s life.
She also told how the “world has fallen from beneath our feet” following the mum’s death.
Sian added: “At the age of 36, I should not have to hold my deceased wife’s cold hand, nor should my daughter have to say goodbye and grieve over a coffin.
“Our tragedy has been a public display for all to see. In such a small town we have no privacy so cannot hide our grief.
“That has been taken away from us. Amie’s beautiful life has now been reduced to forever being remembered as ‘the Murder Victim’.”
While Aimee’s mum Sharon Macklin paid tribute to her “amazing, funny, kind and energetic” daughter who was “beautiful inside and out”.
Sentencing, Mrs Justice Johannah Cutts said Saadi had “planned to kill” that night.
She added: “Your assault on each of them must have been terrifying.
“No one could have heard their screams.
“No doubt, you thought you had committed the perfect crime.”
Winchester Crown Court heard the monster had a morbid interest in true crime and horror movies.
Saadi was also fascinated by knives – calling himself “Ninja killer” on Snapchat – and carried out chilling searches for Brianna Ghey‘s murder and serial killer Levi Bellfield.
He would quiz his lecturers at Greenwich University about how to get away with killing – prompting one to ask: “You’re not planning a murder, are you?”
On May 20, the monster started to make his macabre fantasy a reality as he travelled to Durley Chine on a “recce” mission.
CCTV showed Saadi prowling the beach at night dressed in dark clothing while he hunted for a good spot.
Four days later, he returned to Bournemouth to carry out the gruesome killing.
Amie and Leanne had been chatting next to a fire to keep warm when Saadi struck in an act “horrifying in its savagery and in its randomness”.
Their screams were captured on CCTV as the monster stabbed them multiple times.
Saadi then left the pair bleeding on the sand as he shrunk into the shadows “away from the glare of the streetlights or the moonlight”.
In a harrowing 999 call, Leanne was heard crying out in pain as she told the operator: “I have been stabbed loads of times. Oh my god I am getting dizzy, please hurry up, please hurry up.”
She continued: “Oh, I feel sick, they need to be quicker, I am in so much pain, are you still there, please do not leave me.
“I am bleeding everywhere, I have been stabbed loads of times.”
Paramedics raced to the scene but personal trainer Amie was already “cold to the touch”.
Her cause of death was given as multiple stab wounds to her chest and arm – including one to her heart.
Leanne was rushed to hospital with 20 stab wounds to her chest and back but miraculously survived.
She later told police she and Amie had attempted to escape the knife-wielding maniac but were unable to shake him off.
She said Amie had screamed out “get off me” as Saadi repeatedly hacked at her as she lay defenceless on the sand.
Recalling her own ordeal, Leanne added: “I didn’t want to look at him. I couldn’t look at him.
“And I told him, I said, ‘please stop’. I said, ‘please stop, I’ve got children’.
“And then I think that’s when he started to go, he walked away.”
Officers trawling through CCTV of the moments leading to the attack were able to snare Saadi when he was positively identified by a witness.
In his police interview, he said he had an interest in true crime and enjoyed horror movies.
He also admitted visiting Bournemouth, but said he might have suffered a “blackout” or “been affected because he had been drinking”.
But police discovered he had carried out a string of twisted web searches leading up to the attack.
This included “Bournemouth CCTV” and “Is Bournemouth beach open all night” just days before the murder.
Saadi had also searched “how sharp are kitchen knives?” and “why is it harder for a criminal to be caught if he does it in another town?”
The killer had purchased a number of knives but the ones used in the attack have never been found.
Officers also seized a blue Trespass rucksack which contained white latex gloves – two of which were inside out – as well as a black balaclava, a torch, used wet wipes and a packet of tissues.
In his police interview, Saadi told officers he was not the man seen in CCTV on the night of the attack.
He said: “I am wrongly accused of mistaken identity, mistakes can happen and I am not responsible.
“I think just because someone is wearing the same clothes is circumstantial.
“You haven’t found a murder weapon, you haven’t found the trousers, the bag.”
Snared by bag of Monster Munch - how killer thought he got away with 'perfect murder'
Bournemouth beach murderer Nasen Saadi was caught out by his taste for Monster Munch crisps and Innocent orange juice, The Sun can reveal.
Saadi thought he had carried out the perfect murder having fatally stabbed random stranger Amie Gray on the sand at Durley Chine late at night.
He left no forensic or DNA evidence at the crime scene and discarded the murder weapon and his bloody spattered clothes, never to be seen again thanks to his painstaking planning.
But without realising it, the criminology student had already slipped up after visiting a convenience store half-a-mile away 12 hours before the murder.
He popped into the Nisa shop to buy a packet of pickled onion Monster Munch and a bottle of Innocent smooth orange juice.
The then 20-year-old paid for the items using his bank card.
Murder squad detectives had little to go on in the aftermath of the killing apart from a description of the killer from Amie’s friend Leanne Miles, who was also stabbed, and grainy CCTV images of him leaving the beach.
Police officers seized thousands of hours worth of video footage from security cameras in the area for before and after the murder on Friday, May 24 last year.
It was three days later when an officer picked out what looked like the same man walking along West Hill Road in Bournemouth at 11.30am on the same day.
He appeared to be heading towards the Nisa store so officers went there and recovered HD quality footage which showed the prime suspect using his bank card.
They obtained a copy of his receipt for the 11.32am transaction which gave them his bank details and his address 100 miles away in Croydon, south London.
Saadi had left Bournemouth on the morning of May 25, confidently believing there was nothing tying him to the crime.
Detective Inspector Mark Jenkins, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: “We got a good description from Leanne of the person who attacked them and the attack was captured on CCTV.
“So early on we had an image of him coming down the slope towards the prom and going back up the zig zag path. We were able to define pinch points and look at areas where he had to have gone.
“By Monday evening an officer said ‘I think I have found him’. It was CCTV on West Hill Road of Saadi heading in the direction of Nisa on the day of the murder.
“We went there to see if he had gone into the store.
“This was about 12 hours before the murder. We got a clear picture of him, HD quality, fantastic footage. He made the purchase of crisps and a drink using his bank card.
“I think it was an unguarded moment where he thought no one was ever going to see that.
“That gave us his name and address and we were able to arrest him on Tuesday. That enabled us to search his laptop and financial transactions.
“He booked the hotel in his own name – he wasn’t expecting to be identified.
“He underestimated the lengths we would go to to recover the CCTV and to identify him.
“He presumed if we didn’t have any forensic evidence and murder weapon he would be untraceable.
“He was quite dismissive of the fact we haven’t got any direct evidence.
“But the CCTV footage was clear – the still images from Nisa and the CCTV image we released of the suspect put them side by side and even a lay person can say it’s the same person.
“We had a really solid case with the CCTV and Mr Priddle (an eye witness who saw Saadi running away from the scene).”
Saadi denied murder, attempted murder and an alternative charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm but admitted failing to provide his mobile phone code to police.
Benjamin May, a Senior Crown Prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said, “Amie Gray lost her life in the most tragic way, and our deepest condolences remain with her family.
“Amie’s courageous final act to protect her friend truly defines who she was, and her life will forever be remembered for the love and protection she gave to her loved ones.
“Our thoughts continue to remain with her friends and family, as well as with Leanne Miles, whose bravery through this ordeal helped us to deliver justice.
“Saadi’s perverse fascination with murder and violence morphed into vile, real-world consequences, for which he has faced justice.
“Women should be free to enjoy their lives without fear of violence – the Crown Prosecution Service is unwavering in our commitment to see perpetrators of male violence against women and girls brought to justice.”