A man who hit a young woman over the head 20 times with a power tool is facing life imprisonment after being convicted of her murder.
Neculai Paizan is believed to have attacked Agnes Akom, 20, in a converted shipping container in north-west London, wheeled out her body in a bin and disposed of it in a shallow grave.
Akom was found buried in a wooded area of Neasden recreation ground, hidden under a pile of branches and logs, a month after she was reported missing on 11 May last year. Her body was wrapped in a black plastic bag with a cord tied around her throat.
Paizan, 64, claimed that Akom gave him poison in an iced coffee, that he left the container to get some air and that he returned to find Akom had been attacked. He said he panicked, and he told the Old Bailey jury: “I tried to take her to the park, put her in a good place.”
Paizan, who worked as a concrete mixer driver and was originally from Romania, will be sentenced to life imprisonment, the mandatory punishment for murder, on Monday.
Akom, also known as Dora, originally from Hungary, worked for a coffin maker.
DCI Neil John, said: “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.”
The two had met 18 months before the murder and the court heard that Paizan had given Akom money.
John said: “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 was tied to the murder by phone data, CCTV, and blood that matched Akom’s DNA found in the container.
