Details revealed of suitcase murder

The charred remains of the body of Sylwia Sobczak, from Mafeking Road, Tottenham, were discovered in a suitcase on a bridleway in Hampshire this summer.

The grim find sparked a manhunt that led to the arrest of 27-year-old Ziaul Haque, a work colleague who, was charged with her murder.

Haque, who lived in Drummond Street, Camden, denied murdering the 26-year-old waitress when he appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates Court in May.

But two months later, Haque was found hanged in his cell in Winchester Prison, where he had been remanded in custody pending a murder trial.

Detective Sergeant Richard Rowledge, the man who led the investigation into Miss Sobczak’s death, has revealed some of the many pieces of evidence which led officers to Haque and what he believes was the motive for the horrific crime.

Mr Rowledge said although Haque will never stand trial for Miss Sobczak’s murder, all the evidence pointed towards him as the culprit.

He described the timeline of the investigation, from the moment the crime was reported, to when Haque was ultimately charged with Miss Sobczak’s murder.

Police officers were called to Wayfarer’s Way in Dummer on the morning of May 8, after a dog walker reported finding a woman’s body dumped in suitcase.

Two crime scenes were immediately cordoned off – one where the body was found half-a-mile south of the village, and another where paint and glass from a car was strewn near the entrance to the path, apparently after a collision with a wall.

While the body was not formally identified for eight days, officers found the car debris came from a blue 1994 Vauxhall Cavalier.

House-to-house inquiries carried out by officers in Dummer revealed two people had seen a similar car in the village on the afternoon of May 7.

Mr Rowledge said Haque, a Bangladeshi national who had been in the UK for five years, knew the Basingstoke area well, having lived in Black Dam between 2003 and 2005 working in several restaurants.

The car was then traced to Haque, who was working at the Ibis hotel in Euston, London – where Miss Sobczak also worked as a waitress.

Haque became the prime suspect for her murder when the Metropolitan Police told colleagues from Hampshire Constabulary that Miss Sobczak had not been seen since leaving work on May 6 and had been reported missing.

The case against Haque was strengthened when DNA tests revealed the body found in Dummer was that of Miss Sobczak.

Mr Rowledge explained that CCTV cameras at the hotel captured Miss Sobczak leaving work on May 6, speaking on her mobile phone.

She was seen to move out of camera shot, but 30 seconds later a Vauxhall Cavalier car, matching the description given by residents in Dummer, could be seen driving off.

What happened next is not clear, but Mr Rowledge believes Haque murdered Miss Sobczak in a flat in Haringey between 2pm and 6pm on May 6.

Detectives also believe Haque sent text messages using Miss Sobczak’s mobile phone to work colleagues at about 6pm, saying she had to travel to Poland for two weeks to visit her mother.

Following Haque’s arrest on May 13, officers searched his flat in Harringay.

A forensic search of the flat revealed minute traces of Miss Sobczak’s blood on a wall.

Footage from CCTV cameras at the block of flats also showed Haque going into the property with a large suitcase on the evening of May 7.

And, in a grim scene which could be taken straight out of a horror film, the same CCTV cameras captured Haque leaving the flats at about 10.30pm, dragging a suitcase bound with twine.

Officers found twine at the crime scene in Dummer.

In an interview, Haque told the police he had a sexual relationship with Miss Sobczak – a claim denied at her inquest by another colleague.

Mr Rowledge said: “If this had gone to trial, the case we would have put forward was that the motive was jealousy.

“Sylwia had a number of male companions but we believe they were purely platonic relationships.”

He added: “This was a dreadful crime to take someone’s life and treat her in such a poor way once she was dead."