Devil-obsessed 'Ripper' faces life behind bars for horror spree of murder and rape
21 January 2022, 18:34
A "Ripper" who was obsessed with the devil stabbed a woman to death before dumping her body in the woods then attacked two vulnerable people in a horror spree.
Delivery driver Brian Sengendo, described by prosecutors as "depraved", beat and murdered 44-year-old Therasia Gordon before trying to hide her body in Enfield, North London, in August last year.
The 26-year-old told forced one of his victims into a sex act and told her "repeat after me, I'm the devil's child".
Sengendo, who was recorded talking about devils and demons on his phone and had a collection of Tarot cards, was found guilty of seven charges.
These included murder, attempted murder, kidnap and rape in relation to a series of crimes that took place over four hours.
Jurors were discharged from reaching verdicts on two counts of kidnap and threatening with a knife in relation to a fourth woman.
Judge John Hillen said "effective" police work may have resulted in "a serial killer [being] caught on day one".
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Congratulating police, he said: "This is, to use a journalist vernacular, a Ripper case where an offender has been caught at the outset.
"This is an extreme case where there was an attempted killing, an actual killing and rape of sex workers."
Sengendo, who faces life in prison, will be sentenced in March.
Ms Gordon's mother Jan said: "I am always thinking about what Therasia must have gone through when she died. Listening to the evidence in court has been heart-breaking.
"One of the things that keeps on going through my head is the evidence that one of the witnesses could hear her groaning, I can't get the thought of her being in pain at his hands out of my head.
"I can't understand why this man made my family live through Theresia's murder day after day through a long and difficult Crown Court trial. He knew what he had done but continued to make my family suffer.
"As a family, we will never get over the fact that I have lost a daughter and they have lost their sibling. I will never come to terms with what this person done to my child. He has left a big hole in my heart."
Jurors heard how Sengendo's four hour series of attacks escalated on August 3. He kidnapped women by tricking them into his van, pretending to be a "potential client".
Police were alerted after an officer helped an injured woman found stumbling in the road just after midnight on August 4.
She said she was a prostitute who had been stabbed. About an hour later, police were called to New Park Avenue after a resident reported an assault in an alley near his house.
He had heard a woman could be heard shouting "help, please, no" and saw a man strike something in a van, jurors were told.
Police arrived to find the van was gone but a large pool of blood was on the ground. A mobile and two bloodstained knives were also discovered.
It was found the phone belonged to Ms Gordon, a sex worker. Her body was discovered by a cyclist riding near Burnt Farm Ride, close to the M25 motorway, on August 6.
John Price QC, prosecuting, told the court: "It was immediately obvious from the outward appearance of her body that Ms Gordon had suffered a violent death. She had been stabbed and beaten."
Police linked the van to Sengendo's past address in Enfield, and he was arrested but said he was "confused" so did not answer questions - but officers found blood-soaked trainers and the Tarot cards in an empty flat next to his home,
His t-shirt was found where Ms Gordon was attacked, while saliva of another victim was found on the shirt.
Examination of a phone found video in which he forced one victim to perform oral sex, while another phone had been used to search the web for "Dead girl in Enfield" and "How long does DNA last".
Sengendo claimed a man called "KT" must have taken the t-shirt and spare keys to his van. He said he believed in the Devil as any Christian would.
