A killer lorry driver was caught on CCTV dragging a wheelie bin containing the body of a woman who he battered to death.
Neculai Paizan, 64, is facing a life sentence after beating 20-year-old Agnes Akom over the head more than 20 times with a power saw at his home in a converted shipping container in Brent, northwest London.
He was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey yesterday as police released CCTV images of him moving her body in a wheelie bin before moving it to a park and burying it under a pile of logs.
In the months before the killing, Paizan had been seen several times with Ms Akom near the container in Park Royal by staff at a nearby car dealership.
Ms Akom, also known as ‘Dora’, was reported missing on May 11 last year after leaving her flat in Cricklewood Broadway two days beforehand and telling her partner that she was going to work.
She exchanged messages with Paizan between 10-11am on the day she left.
She also messaged a man she worked for – Attila Molna-Feri, a coffin maker, with whom she had an “intimate relationship”.
Ms Akom booked an Uber to go to Mr Molna-Feri’s house, but Paizan arrived at the Costa Coffee where she was sat and, after an exchange, got into his silver Dacia Sandero and went to the container.
CCTV was played to the court showing the pair entering the grey metal box.
Prosecutor Jacob Hallam said earlier: “The doors close behind him. That is the last time that Agnes is seen alive on CCTV.”
About half an hour later, CCTV captured Paizan leaving the container to head towards a nearby tap to wash off bloodstains.
Just after 3:30pm he dragged items from the shipping container and put them into the boot of his car.
He discarded Ms Akom’s white fur coat, a rolled carpet, clothing, pink slip-on shoes and a jigsaw matted with her blood and hair.
Later that day, CCTV captured Paizan dragging a “large white item” which was “large enough to contain a human body” from the door of his unit to his car.
Paizan, who had a property in Notting Hill but lived in the shipping container in Brent with no running water, left the car overnight with the body in the boot.
Early the following morning he went to a recreation ground and buried the body in a pit under a pile of logs and branches.
Ms Akom’s body was found a month later covered in a black plastic bag with a cord around her throat.
A pathologist found death had been caused by at least 20 blows to the head.
Police found a blood stain on the spine of a bible sitting on one of Paizan’s shelves in the shipping container.
A DNA sample was taken from the blood and found to match Ms Akom’s profile.
Detective Chief Inspector Neil John said on Tuesday: “Our thoughts today are with Agnes’ family and friends, who not only have suffered from her loss, but have had to endure hearing the details of her murder during this trial.
“The level of violence Paizan used in his attack on Agnes is truly horrific. What she suffered inside the container does not bear thinking about.
“Whilst it is not clear why he killed her that day, his attempts to hide his crime in the following hours and days show a calculated effort to ensure that, not only was Agnes never found, but that he would not be caught.
“Our enquiries, which started with phone data, quickly led us to identify Paizan as someone who had regular contact with Agnes. It was his actions that made him a suspect, and the resulting investigation led to him being charged.
“During his testimony at the Old Bailey, Paizan concocted a number of stories in an attempt to paint Agnes in a bad light. Our investigation, and what we know about Agnes, tell us that whilst she was vulnerable, he has clearly lied about her background and personal situation in an attempt to sway the jury.
“It is likely that he preyed upon these vulnerabilities to abuse her, ultimately leading to her murder.”
Paizan will be sentenced next Monday, 25 July, after a jury convicted him after less than an hour of deliberation.
He had denied murder and insisted he passed out after the victim gave him a drugged iced tea in the container, and when he came around found her dead.