Bogus Albanian asylum seeker who lied to get into the UK found GUILTY of murdering millionaire pensioners he targeted to fund his gambling habit

  • Ali Qazimaj claimed he was from Kosovo so he could remain in the UK
  • He heard a victims' relative say they were millionaires so planned to rob them
  • Pensioner's body was found stabbed nine times. Wife has never been found
  • Jury took just four hours to find Qazimaj guilty after he claimed he was framed

Ali Qazimaj was jailed for life today for the 'callous' murder of a retired couple in Suffolk

Ali Qazimaj faces life in jail for the 'callous' murder of a retired couple in Suffolk

An Albanian asylum seeker who entered the UK using a false identity murdered an elderly couple during a suspected robbery, a jury has found.

Ali Qazimaj, 44, targeted Peter Stuart, 75 and his wife Sylvia, 69, at their cottage in Weybread, Suffolk after he was told they were millionaires.

Mr Stuart was stabbed nine times and dumped in a water-filled ditch. The body of retired insurance clerk Mrs Stuart has never been found.

Qazimaj lied to claim asylum in the UK in 1999 by giving a false name and saying he was fleeing persecution in his homeland of Kosovo.

But official records in Albania uncovered during his trial confirmed that he was born in Albania, rather than the former Yugoslavia.

His lies meant he was given leave to remain in the UK five months after being smuggled in a lorry into Harwich, Essex. He was then granted UK citizenship in 2005.  

Qazimaj denied the murders of Mr and Mrs Stuart, but a jury took just under four hours to find him guilty today after a five week trial.

Peter Stuart, 75, was stabbed nine times. The body of his wife, Sylvia,  has never been found

Peter Stuart, 75, was stabbed nine times. The body of his wife, Sylvia, has never been found

Mr Stuart's body was found in a ditch not far from the couple's home in Suffolk

Mr Stuart's body was found in a ditch not far from the couple's home in Suffolk

Prosecutor Karim Khalil QC said: 'He is an arrogant man. He is a professional deceiver. He is a callous murderer and guilty of these terrible crimes.' 

He stood expressionless in the dock as the verdicts were announced while Mr and Mrs Stuart's daughter Christy, 42, gasped and hugged her husband Stephen in the public gallery. Mr Justice Stuart-Smith adjourned sentencing until tomorrow.

The court heard that Qazimaj had worked as a carer for the stepmother and father of the couple's son-in-law Steven Paxman, 62, who was married to their only daughter Christy.

Mr Paxman's father Sidney innocently told Qazimaj that Mr and Mrs Stuart were millionaires living in north Suffolk.

The prosecution said that the comment led Qazimaj to hatch a plan to rob them to help fund his serious gambling habit as he was losing up to £1,000 a day on gaming machines.

Mr Stuart, a retired Tate & Lyle sugar factory worker, and his wife were last seen alive on May 29 last year when they were filmed on CCTV visiting Goodies farm shop in Pulham Market near Diss, Norfolk, around six miles from their home.

Ali Qazimaj at the port of Dover was spotted at the Port of Dover as he fled the country

Ali Qazimaj at the port of Dover was spotted at the Port of Dover as he fled the country

Grey hairs belonging to Mrs Stuart were found in the boot of Qazimaj's car

Grey hairs belonging to Mrs Stuart were found in the boot of Qazimaj's car

Qazimaj was recorded by mobile phone signal records and number plate recognition cameras driving to and from the couple's home the next day on May 30 when they were believed to have been killed as they prepared lunch.

The same records showed him making six earlier trips to the area on apparent reconnaissance missions.

Qazimaj was also placed in the vicinity of cash machines where attempts were made to withdraw money using Mrs Stuart's Barclaycard.

Around the time the couple are thought to have died, Qazimaj sold his possessions and furniture, quit his full time job at recycling firm Shields and drove to Dover, Kent, where he dumped his silver Citroen C3 in a side street and fled to France on a ferry.

He was found by police at an asylum seeker's hostel in Luxembourg after a two week international manhunt and was extradited back to the UK.

The couple are said to have been targeted for their money after a relative said they were rich

The couple are said to have been targeted for their money after a relative said they were rich

He denied being Qazimaj and claimed he had never been to the UK. But his fingerprints and DNA were found to match those on record.

Mr Stuart's blood was also on the door handle of the abandoned car and three of his wife's grey hairs were in the boot.

Qazimaj claimed he was the victim of mistaken identify and that fingerprint evidence had been tampered with by 'corrupt police' to 'fit him up' and resolve the case.

After the jury returned its verdicts, Judge Jeremy Stuart-Smith said: 'I know you've not taken very long in absolute terms to reach your verdicts, but I don't find that at all surprising.' 

Family's desperate plea for answers

The family of Sylvia Stuart still do not know where she is

The family of Sylvia Stuart still do not know where she is

Mr and Mrs Stuart's daughter Christy Paxman, 42, issued a plea outside court for Qazimaj to reveal where he had dumped the body of her mother.

She said in a statement: 'To the twisted individual who committed this wicked crime, we hope you spend the rest of your miserable existence reflecting on the utter senselessness and brutality of what you did to two innocent people.

'Maybe one day you will find the moral courage to tell us where mum is so we can give her and our family some final peace.'

Mrs Paxman also thanked police for their 'hard work and diligence' in investigating the case.

Det Chief Insp Andy Guy of Suffolk Police said outside court: 'We live in hope that he will give us the location of where Sylvia is. 

'We hope it will happen, but of course it is in his hands. I have promised Christy that we will do all we can to try and find her mother, but I am doubtful that he will say.

'Despite a huge number of officers from three counties completing hundreds of hours of searches Sylvia remains missing. Searches were conducted around the Stuart's home address, the entire route between Weybread and Tilbury and the home and workplace of Qazimaj.

'I have promised the family, who have shown a quiet dignity throughout, that I will continue to follow up any information that assists in locating Sylvia. I would also ask anyone who may have information to call us.'