Sherlock Holmes and the mysterious footprint: Detectives crack murder of mother stabbed 140 times, 30 years on

15 February 2024, 15:07

Sandip Patel murdered Marina Koppel
Sandip Patel murdered Marina Koppel. Picture: Met Police

By Kit Heren

Police have solved the murder of a mother who was stabbed to death 140 times near the fictional home of Sherlock Holmes.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Sandip Patel, who worked for his father's Sherlock Holmes newsagents on London's Baker Street, murdered Marina Koppel in 1994, in her flat on a neighbouring street.

The fingerprints of Patel - then aged 21 - were found on a carrier bag in the kitchen, but he wasn't treated as a suspect at the time.

But last year his DNA was matched to hair on her ring, and he was linked to the scene by a bloody footprint on a skirting board.

Patel, now aged 51, denied murder but was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Thursday. He will be sentenced on Friday.

Read more: 'Devoted' award winning farmer shot dead months after becoming father as police probe if he was killed by accident

Read more: Four-month-old baby killed after van crashes head-on with car in Leeds horror collision

Sandip Patel is now 51
Sandip Patel is now 51. Picture: Met Police

The jury heard during the trial how Colombian Ms Koppel was a hotel chambermaid, before working as a masseuse and sex worker.

She offered sexual services to around 100 "well-to-do" men "if the price was right. Her husband David, who mostly lived in Northampton, accepted the work but did not approve of it, and the two had rowed before her death. Ms Koppel also had two children in Colombia, looked after by her mother.

Mr Koppel died in 2005, and never found out who killed his wife.

Her movements before her death are unclear. She had entered a poker tournament and seen a client in a Heathrow hotel the night before she died.

Marina Koppel
Marina Koppel. Picture: Met Police

She was last seen on the afternoon of the day of her death outside a bank. Mr Koppel came home that night to find that his wife had been killed.

She was covered in blood and wearing black, lacy lingerie that she might wear if she was expecting a client.

Patel was initially discounted as a suspect because it was seen as unremarkable that his fingerprint was on a bag from his father's newsagents.

A hair was found on her ring in 2008, but the technology to match it to his DNA wasn't available at the time.

Sandip Patel in 1994
Sandip Patel in 1994. Picture: Met Police

But the hair was kept on file until 2022, when it could be re-examined. His DNA was already on file from an actual bodily harm conviction in 2012.

Patel was arrested in January 2023. His footprints were also matched to bloodstained bare footprints found at the murder scene. Meanwhile a bank card belonging to Marina that was stolen at the time from her flat was used at a cash point near his home shortly after the murder.

Prosecutor Emlyn Jones told jurors: "Marina Koppel was brutally murdered. It has taken a terribly long time to solve it, but we now have evidence that she had this defendant's hair stuck to the ring she was wearing when she was attacked and killed; and his bare foot was pressed against the skirting board next to her.

"And that, the prosecution say, can only be because it was him who killed her all those years ago."

The plastic bag
The plastic bag. Picture: Met Police

He told jurors: "You may have little trouble concluding that if those footprints were made in Marina's wet blood, then that can only be because they were left by her killer - someone who was in that room, barefoot, at the time of her blood being on the skirting board.

"All these years later, they have been identified - they are the defendant's prints - they were made by the sole of his left foot."

Marina's brother and sister-in-law Mary and Martin Koppel, paid tribute to their "extremely bright, highly intelligent and charismatic" relative.

"She wanted to give them everything they needed, especially her two children and nephew who grew up in Columbia," they said.

"Her family and friends would have been in a much better place because of her abundance of energy for life had she not died."

The footmark in the bloodstain
The footmark in the bloodstain. Picture: Met Police

"Marina was a daughter, a sister, a mother, a loving aunt, a daughter-in-law and a sister-in-law who was much loved by all of us as she loved all of us. Had Marina lived, all of the lives of her family and friends would have been enriched and further evolved. We have all suffered these many, many years because we lost Marina so early in life."

Operational forensic manager Dan Chester, the Met’s forensic lead for cold case homicide investigations, said: "Unsolved historic murders can be among some of the most complex and challenging cases for police to solve.

"However, today’s result provides an example where forensic science, newer technologies and collaborative working practices have had a positive impact in bringing a brutal killer to justice.

"This was a great team effort with the forensic scientists, fingerprint experts, the forensic manager and the investigating team all playing their part in solving Marina’s murder.

"Forensic techniques and technologies are constantly evolving, and the police will continue to review serious unsolved cases and, where possible, pursue new opportunities to enable both the prosecution of those responsible and to exonerate the innocent.

"This includes cases specifically related to violence against women."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Exclusive
A small group of secondary school pupils working on practical experiments in a chemistry lab.

Ministers should consider shortening school holidays and letting teachers work from home, union chief says

JD Vance

Free speech is 'in retreat' across Europe, claims JD Vance - as US brands it a 'bigger threat than Russia'

oxford street with shoppers

Two arrested in Oxford St 'celebrity romance scam' after victims coerced into sending £200k to 'well-known boyfriends'

What if Ukraine were the UK? Could you accept surrendering a fifth of our country to Putin after so much sacrifice?

What if Ukraine were the UK? Could you accept surrendering a fifth of our country to Putin after so much sacrifice?

Most expensive pint revealed.

Most expensive pint in UK pubs revealed

One of the UK's 'most wanted' men sentenced to 12 years in prison after drug dealer evaded police for four years

One of the UK's 'most wanted' fugitives jailed for 12 years after drug dealer hunted down by police in Portugal

Anne Hodgson, 87, and Olwyn Smith, 82, with Dreamboy Max Hunter

Care home residents 'delighted' at male stripper visit

Police at the scene on the Broadway in Stratford

Three men stabbed in east London after 'large brawl' breaks out - with one arrested

The Met Office has issued a weather warning.

Snow and ice could cause disruption tomorrow, as Met Office issues yellow weather warning

Hostages (L-R) Sasha Trufanov, Sagui Dekel-Chen, and Yair Horn,

Hamas confirms names of Israeli hostages due for release on Saturday

Danielle McLaughlin's killer Baghat was finally found guilty today

Indian man is found guilty of raping and murdering Irish backpacker Danielle McLaughlin in a field in Goa

Starmer welcomes Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, to Downing Street

Starmer tells Zelenskyy Ukraine remains on 'irreversible path to NATO membership' as leaders share phone call

Kayaker Adrian Simancas after being briefly swallowed by a humpback whale

Kayaker breaks silence over 'terrifying' moment he was swallowed whole by humpback whale - then spat back out

William and Kate shared the sweet snap for Valentine's Day

Princess Kate and Prince William share sweet snap to mark Valentine's Day

67th GRAMMY Awards - Arrivals

Kanye West and Bianca Censori shut down ‘split’ rumours as they plan Valentine’s Day together

Pope Francis

Pope Francis to be admitted to hospital for bronchitis treatment