Romanian couple killed two men after 'drugging them during sexual liaisons'

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Adina Mihai, 31, who posed as a sex worker, and her partner Madalin Dumitru, 30, arranged to meet men paying for sex at their homes.

Oxford Crown Court heard four were drugged when glasses of wine were spiked with the powerful sedative gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) so the two defendants could take money from them.

Two of the victims, Malcolm King, 80, of Bagendon, Gloucestershire, and Gary Mouat, 36, of Banbury, Oxfordshire, died.

At a previous hearing, the pair, formerly of Ilford, Essex, pleaded guilty to two charges of manslaughter, and to administering poison to two other men, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

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Julian Evans KC, prosecuting, said the Crown’s case was that the defendants did not intend to kill their victims but instead intended to cause harm by rendering them unconscious.

“In summary, Adina Mihai and Madalin Dumitru drugged their victims via the administration of GBL, a potent drug, concealed in alcohol,” he said.

“They did so with a specific purpose in mind: to render their victims unconscious inside their homes in order to steal property from them.

“To carry out this plan, the defendants offered sexual services from a woman to each victim for money.

“After contact was made through a website, and arrangements made by phone, Mihai and Dumitru drove to the home address of each victim.

“While Dumitru waited nearby, Mihai would enter the victim’s home. There, she would persuade the victim to drink alcohol laced with GBL to render them unconscious.

“Once the victim was unconscious, Mihai would look for property to steal. Then she would rejoin Dumitru, leaving the victim alone and unconscious.”

Mr Evans said the defendants acted together to perform different roles within their “enterprise”.

No sexual services were in fact provided by Mihai to any of their victims, he added.

“Instead, acting under the pretence that she was there to provide sexual services for money, Mihai secretly administered GBL to each victim concealed within alcohol.

“Put simply, the defendants were willing to act in this way out of greed.

“Together, they no doubt drew comfort from the shared belief that they could proceed with their obviously criminal activity safe in the knowledge that their victims were highly unlikely to report what had happened to them to the police.

“That confidence drew upon the obviously sensitive and embarrassing nature of the activity each victim believed they had agreed to.

“Namely, meeting a stranger at their home for the purposes of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money.”

The court heard Mihai advertised her sexual services on the online site VivaStreet and the pair would take cash deposits ahead of meeting up.

Dumitru would drive her to an address and wait outside as she went about the drugging and theft.

She would find out whether their victims were wealthy and would steal watches, jewellery, aftershave and cash.

The value of goods stolen or amount of cash taken is unknown.

The defendants, who are both unemployed and in a relationship, previously lived in Birmingham before moving to Ilford.

The court heard Mr King, who was retired, wealthy and married, had made contact with Mihai on August 20 2024 and arranged to meet her at his home that evening while his wife was away.

His body was discovered the following morning by his housekeeper, who also found an empty bottle of wine and two wine glasses.

Mr King had long-term heart conditions and was fitted with a pacemaker, and cardiologists were able to determine the circumstances of his death after analysing the device.

The court heard that Mr Mouat’s wife and son were away for the night of July 12 last year and he contacted Mihai via Vivastreet. The pair then travelled from Ilford to Mr Mouat’s home.

Mr Mouat drank wine laced with GBL and Mihai left him unconscious, while she searched for items to steal from the house.

He was found the following morning lying on the floor of his lounge by family friends who had been concerned that he had not been in contact with anyone since the previous day.

An open bottle of wine was found nearby with two wine glasses.

Hours after returning to Ilford from Mr Mouat’s home, a third man, known in court as “victim three”, contacted Mihai on Vivastreet.

The defendants arrived at his home at 2.45am on July 13, with Mihai bringing a bottle of wine purchased from a petrol station.

Mr Evans said: “On the available evidence, there is nothing to suggest that any form of sexual activity in fact took place between victim three and Mihai inside the house.

“After drinking the wine laced with GBL, victim three fell into a state of unconsciousness, a state that Mihai and Dumitru anticipated, and intended.

“While he was unconscious, Mihai looked around his house for property to steal. She stole a high-value Rolex watch.”

The court heard the man had paid Mihai £450, drank some of the wine, and after waking from unconsciousness found his watch was missing.

A week later, the fourth victim, known as “victim four”, contacted Mihai and she arranged to meet for £360.

“On the available evidence, there is nothing to suggest that any form of sexual activity in fact took place between victim four and Mihai inside the house,” Mr Evans said.

“He drank some of the vodka laced with GBL that Mihai brought with her. After drinking the vodka he fell into a state of unconsciousness.”

Mihai stole jewellery, aftershave and documents