Emmanuel Odunlami, a Nigerian-born music manager, was brutally murdered in the United Kingdom.
Odunlami was stabbed to death in the United Kingdom after celebrating his birthday with a “designer watch” worth up to £300,000.
Odunlami was ambushed by three robbers after leaving the Haz restaurant near St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London, where he had a party to celebrate his birthday on May 1, 2022, according to the Old Bailey in London.
The robbers were told by security guard Kavindu Hettiarachchi that Odunlami was wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch worth between £90,000 and £300,000 if genuine.
The prosecutor, Duncan Atkinson KC, stated during the court hearing that the watch “may not have been genuine.” He went on to say that the robbers, on the other hand, treated the item as if it were genuine.
“Sadly, as it was to turn out, he liked expensive brand watches. At the time when he was fatally attacked, he was wearing a Patek Philippe Nautilus watch. If real, such a watch could be worth anything in a range from £90,000 to £300,000. It is believed the deceased’s watch may not have been genuine, but was treated as genuine by those who sought to take it.” the prosecutor said.
Hettiarachchi, according to Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC, was an important member of the security team hired by the event’s organizer, Playhxuse, for the private ticketed brunch and afterparty with DJ.
“It was part of his role to protect the safety of those, like Mr Odunlami, who was attending the event. In fact he did the opposite,” he said.
The court heard that following the incident, Hettiarachchi was seen on video calling Louis Vandross, who is suspected of being one of the robbers.
Quincy Ffrench was said to have driven Vandrose and Jordell Menzies in a white Mercedes with altered number plates from north-west London.
“The evidence shows that Vandrose, Menzies and Ffrench were setting off in a car with a disguised registration in order to carry out a robbery, and their target was at the Haz restaurant where Hettiarachchi was working, and to which by phone he had summoned them.” the prosecutor said.
According to reports, the security guard filmed the victim and his “high-value” watch before appearing to type something into his phone.
“The prosecution case is that he was making those other defendants aware of Mr Odunlami and his watch, in order that they could rob him of that apparently very valuable item,” Atkinson said.
