Man, 50, charged with the 1994 murder of Maria Koppell stabbed to death in her London home
10 March 2023, 13:11 | Updated: 10 March 2023, 13:19
A 50-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a woman found stabbed to death in her London flat nearly 30 years ago.
The body of Colombian-born Koppell, 39, was found in her Marylebone apartment on August 8, 1994 by her husband after he was unable to get in contact with her.
Sustaining what was described as a "frenzied attack" inside the bedroom of her Chiltern Street address, police at the time said her body had received multiple stab wounds inflicted using a broad-bladed kitchen knife.
Now, Sandip Patel, 50, of Finchley Road, North London, has been charged with murder in connection with the historic case, after being arrested on March 9.
Scotland Yard has said the man had been charged following a review of the investigation by the Met’s Special Casework Team who look back at unsolved homicide cases in a bid to resolve them.
Mrs Koppell had been working in the UK as a masseuse for 15 years before her murder, however, it was later reported by the Met Police that she had been working as an 'upmarket’ prostitute.
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Reconstructed shortly after the murder as part of televised Crimewatch appeal, Koppell was depicted as advertising her services in both newspapers and local phone boxes.
A Met spokesman said at the time: “It was a frenzied attack. She died of multiple stab wounds. The manner in which she was attacked suggests that it was more than just a quarrel or a falling out.”
Patel will appear in custody at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday, March 10.
