A shocking crime in a quiet London neighbourhood | Forensic Files

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to grab your copy that's tiger tiger tiger book.com [Music] our episodes deal with serious and often
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preferred [Music] platform at around 300 p.m. on Wednesday September 20 2017 a resident in the
southfields district of Southwest London was disturbed by a foul odor peering outside they noticed a
black smoke emanating from their next door neighbor rear Garden from what appeared to be some kind of weird
barbecue the concerned resident went and knocked on their neighbor door to check
if everything was okay but there was no answer shrugging it off they went about their day as the repugnant smoke
continued to spiral above their neighborhood 3 hours later the resident could no longer ignore it they phoned
emergency services and reported The Strange Fire Burning on Wimbledon Park Road firefighters arrived at the address
at 6:20 p.m. a slim boarding man with olive skin and graying facial hair opened the
door he was 40-Year-Old whis medone known to friends as whome told the firefighters there was
nothing to worry about he was simply having a barbecue but the firefighters wanted to
check it out to make sure it didn't present any fire hazards they walked through whome small
two-bedroom flat and out a set of French doors into the rear Garden just as whome had described
several pieces of chicken were grilling on a small barbecue alongside it blazed an open
bonfire which was the source of the thick Fair smelling smoke the fire was remarkably close to
the door so firefighters deemed it a hazard and extinguished the Flames one of them Thomas Hunt then
turned to wasum and asked what he was burning wasum said it was the carcass of a shape which he'd purchased earlier
from The Wimbledon Market Thomas eyed the charred ROM s among two blackened logs were human
fingers and a nose [Music] [Music] upon realizing that he was looking at the remnants of a human body firefighter
Thomas Hunt wanted to confront whis Medan but he wasn't sure how the man would react and didn't want to put the
rest of his team in danger Thomas paused for a moment in response to wh's claim that he
was burning a sheep carcass Thomas finally said bollocks whum seemed unperturbed he calmly Shrugged off the
comment and went to sit down it was then that Thomas detected a look of resignation on wh's face as
though he knew he'd been caught while waiting for police to arrive the firefighters sifted through
the ashes and found items of clothing jewelry and a pair of badly charred eyeglasses pieces of cooked chicken had
also Al being thrown on The Burning Body in a crash attempt to disguise it there was something else adding to
the disturbing nature of the discovery the body looked particularly small and frail for the fire crew this indicated
one thing that it was the body of a child the police soon arrived and assessed the scene the body was so badly
burned that they couldn't determine the person's age or gender they asked whome who it
was he simply responded it's not a child 36-year-old Sabrina quair was a glamorous woman born in Algeria but
raised in Paris she took great pride in her appearance with long dark hair olive
skin and a keen sense of style she was was often mistaken for reality TV star Kim
Kardashian having established herself as a successful fashion designer and makeup
artist Sabrina was awarded with invites to trendy events where she mingled with the Rich and
Famous Sabrina met whis Medan at a Parisian fun fair in 2001 whome had been immediately struck
by her beauty and it wasn't long before he was completely boded with with her Sabrina eventually moved from Paris
to London and whome also a French Algerian happily followed her they called England Home ever
since the couple had periods of Separation throughout their 17-year long relationship during which Sabrina had
two children to two different men but she and whome always wound up back together they'd been living in the
rented Wimbledon Park Road flat since 2013 following the discovery of the burnt human remains at the couple's home
whis Medan was placed in handcuffs and escorted to the police station police attempted to interview
him but whis remained silent when questioned when Sabrina quair returned home with her two young Sons there was a
collective sense of relief that her and her children were safe but the question remained whose body was
found in the P Sabrina was stunned by the police presence and asked what was going on an
officer told her that whome was found burning a body in the backyard this came as a huge shock to
Sabrina she said she'd been out all day and that things at home seemed completely normal when she left in the
afternoon she picked up her children from school and took them to an after school club at which time whome
endeavored to burn the unidentified body in their back Garden Sabrina couldn't believe what she
was hearing meanwhile police questioned the couple's neighbors to see if they'd noticed anything out of the
ordinary southfields was an affluent family oriented suburb labeled as one of the best plac to live in London and
crimes of this nature were unheard of neighbors were in disbelief they knew the residence of the
house to be a relatively normal family that mostly kept to themselves they weren't very involved with the community
and didn't attend Street parties but there was nothing much else to note no one had seen or heard anything
untoward in the days leading up to the fire when they thought about it however they realized they hadn't seen the
couple's young nanny in weeks she was often cited out and about running errands for her host family and
picking up Sabrina's children from school but not lately what's more neighbors had
described her as wearing eyeglasses similar to those found in the fire when asked about her nanny Sabrina
quadir claimed she had resigned 2 days earlier and returned turned home to France police asked for the nanny's name
but Sabrina could only remember her first name Sophie she had hired Sophie 18 months
prior to help with the children while whim was away for work this immediately struck the police
as odd after employing and living with Sophie for such a long time it seemed absurd that Sabrina didn't know her last
name they suspected that Sabrina knew more than she was letting on and took her to the station for further
questioning given the level of Destruction DNA testing would be required to confirm the identity of the
body whome was attempting to destroy but police was certain it was the couple's Liv in Nanny 21-year-old
Sophie Leon when faced with this revelation Sabrina caved she revealed that Sophie was
incompetent at her job and didn't do any of the tasks she was hired to do instead
she lzed around on the couch glued to her smartphone Sabrina said she was waiting for us to serve her
it was as if we were working for her and not her for us she said that Sophie had fallen in
with the wrong crowd and had been drinking ing heavily Sabrina also suspected that she
had been stealing from her as a diamond pendant had gone missing from the house Sophie's Behavior soon took a
Sinister turn Sabrina discovered she had begun a relationship with Sabrina's ex-boyfriend
a man named Mark Walton who was the biological father of Sabrina's youngest son Sabrina revealed that Mark had
sexually abused their son and that Sophie had been allowing it to happen not only allowing it but facilitating
the meetings by bringing the young boy to Mark without Sabrina's knowledge when whome found out what was
happening it was the final straw days earlier at around midnight on Monday September 18 Sabrina was sleeping
when whum came into the room and woke her up he told her he had confronted Sophie
about the meetings with Mark and the abuse against Sabrina's son he lost his temper and hit Sophie
causing her to fly back and hit her head against the bathroom wall her body stopped
moving it was obvious that she was dead whome and Sabrina panicked they were scared of what it might mean for
their family if they told the truth they couldn't risk it they decided to keep Sophie's death a secret and burn her
body so no one would ever find out if anyone asked where she was they'd simply say she had decided to return
home to France they stashed her belongings in her suitcase which they hid inside their
small garden shed when pressed whis meduni backed Sabrina's claims he said that in an effort to
extract information about Mark Walton and the child abuse he had Sophie sit in a full bath and would periodically hold
her head under the water to compel her to answer his questions he was eventually so overcome
with anger he punched Sophie in the face causing her head to strike the tiles she lost Consciousness and her
body then slipped under the water whim tried to revive Sophie explaining that he had never intended to
kill her or cause her Serious injury he had simply lost control when it was clear she was
deceased he agreed to burning her body to protect his family police were baffled by the story
but Sabrina had evidence to back up her claims she produced a confession allegedly penned by
Sophie one part read Mark Walton asked me to come and see him he started to touch my breasts
and he kissed my neck Mark offered me some money and he asked me to come back with Sabrina's youngest
child experts confirmed the handwriting was indeed Sophie's Sophie's body had been so badly
burnt that the exact cause of her death couldn't be established her lower jaw bone four of
her ribs and her sternum were all found to have been fractured the timing of these injuries
were particularly noteworthy forensic experts concluded that the Jawbone fracture happened hours
before Sophie was killed hinting that there was more to her bathtub interrogation than whome just holding
her head underwater the chest injuries were even more suspicious they were found to have
occurred days before she died investigators examined whum and Sabrina's mobile phones and what they
found was shocking over a 12-day period the couple had recorded over 8 hours of audio and
video footage in which they subjected Sophie to harrowing interrogations using violence and
coercion they relentlessly tried to get her to confess to a range of offenses they accused her of being a spy a thief
a heavy drug user and a pedophile but at the heart of the interrogations lay one person Mark
Walton Sabrina and whome applied immense pressure and intimidation trying to make
Sophie admit that she was having a sexual relationship with Mark and that the two were in cahoots to sexually
exploit Sabrina's Sons the couple claimed they had evidence that Sophie had brought Mark to their
flat so he could drug and sexually abuse the family they compared Sophie to a Nazi
collaborator and told her she was worse than a murderer Sabrina said you made a huge mistake you
delivered a 4-year-old into the hands of a pedophile Mark paid you Sophie I have
evidence you canot go home without telling us everything Sabrina told Sophie that she
had friends in high places including then US president Donald Trump and that she could easily have her locked up she
threatened Sophie with 40 years in prison saying close your eyes for one minute and imagine yourself every day in a cage
like an animal with other people inside that's not a laughing matter from the recordings it was clear that
Sabrina was the main instigator during one interrogation she said on my mother's life I am not going
to leave you alone I will not touch you but I will not leave you alone until you tell me
the truth is this clear do you understand you will not go back to France until you've told me the truth I
am going to spoil your life as you have spoiled mine have you understood that but whome also played a significant
role in one recording he called Sophia a liar and told her she wasn't allowed to
return back to France until she'd revealed the whole truth and nothing but the truth it was clear that Sophie was
terrified she rarely responded to the couple's hounding but when she did her voice was Meek and barely
audible at first and for a long while she denied everything and seemed genuinely confused about what the couple
were accusing her of the extent of the physical violence wasn't clear but loud thumping sounds
indicated that Sabrina hit Sophie multiple times the final video was filmed shortly
before midnight on Monday September 18 20 2017 investigators couldn't believe what
they were watching in stark contrast to the healthy happy young woman who had left
France 18 months earlier Sophie Leon was a shadow of her former self her body was gaunt and sceletal as
though she hadn't eaten in weeks she looked frail and broken her once thick and wavy brown
hair had become thin and flat this explained why the remains in the fire looked childlike it was heartwrenching to
watch the emaciated Sophie sat in front of a fireplace in The Wimbledon Park Road flat a knitted blanket draped
across her lap there the months of abuse and violent interrogations came to her head Sophie finally
broke she she confessed to having an affair with Mark Walton in an even more shocking
Revelation she admitted that she drugged whome so that Mark could come over to the flat and sexually assault him as
well Sabrina and whum intended to hand the footage they had taken of Sophie's confession to police as evidence of her
crimes however just hours after Sophie admitted to knowing and abetting Mark Walton
she was dead case File will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening
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month that's better hp.com casefile Mark Walton was going about his morning in his new home of Los Angeles
when he received a phone call from the police in London he was shocked to hear that
Sabrina quair had just accused him of child molestation in collaboration with her nanny who had just been
killed Mark couldn't believe what he was hearing although he'd come to expect extreme behavior from Sabrina this was
beyond anything he had so far endured he vehemently denied the lur claims telling police he'd never even
met Sophie Leon or communicated with her he wasn't even in the country during the dates Sabrina claimed the child
abuse took place Mark insisted he had nothing to hide he offered to provide his passport
phone and anything else the police required to prove his innocence for Mark Walton his life
changed forever in 2011 when he walked in into a bank in London Mark was a well-known figure in
the music industry having been one of the founding members of the wildly popular Irish boy band
boyzone he eventually Left Boy Zone to pursue a career in music production and had gone on to work with such artists as
Jennifer Lopez and Enrique eaus it was in the bank in London when he first laid eyes on Sabrina quidere
he was immediately attracted to her and they struck up a conversation with good looks style and a
common interest in the High Life the two quickly became a piter perfect couple it wasn't long before they moved
in together and Sabrina eventually became pregnant the early days of their relationship were happy but once Mark's
love goggles wore off he saw Sabrina for who she really was she had a wild temper
and her mood could dramatically switch over the most trivial of things she often acted irrationally without
explanation during some rough patches in their relationship she called the police
to report that Mark was hiring male sex workers which was untrue she also took to firing any Nanny
the pair hired to assist them accusing them of stealing from her and of being romantically interested in mark
she'd gone as far as installing hidden cameras throughout their home which Mark was unaware of until he stumbled upon
them himself the couple split for good in 2014 after which Sabrina rekindled her
relationship with whs meduni Mark moved to Los Angeles and continued to help support Sabrina
financially even paying the rent of her new southfields flat regardless she seemed determined to
make his life difficult over the years Sabrina reported Mark to the police over 30
times for a range of bizarre and baseless offenses including that he'd once tried to kill her had hacked her
phone and emails and was trying to control her using black magic things only escalated when Mark
completely cut Sabrina off financially amongst than many other outlandish accusations she accused him
and his friends of hiring a helicopter to spy on her some of Sabrina's claims were plain
ludicrous like the time she reported Mark for sexually mistreating her cat when she never even owned a cat in the
first place the most outrageous was when Sabrina created a fake Facebook profile
to publicly spread lies alleging Mark was a pedophile Mark had been putting up with this issue
privately for some time after Sabrina falsely complained to Social Services that Mark had sexually abused their
son but this was the first time she had accused him publicly Sabrina was arrested as a
result and she reluctantly accepted a caution for sending malicious Communications the most recent incident
had occurred just 1 month prior to Sophie Leon 's death in August 2017 Sabrina had called police to report
that Sophie had taken her son to meet with Mark against her wishes there mark threatened to kill the
boy's family given Sabrina's previous history of false reports police didn't believe
her and therefore no action was taken the following month Sabrina recorded a dejected and exhaust Ed
Sophie at 11:32 a.m. mere hours before she died she pressed Sophie to admit that
Mark Walton had been at their house despite Sophie telling her time and again that she had never met
him Sabrina then told her I hate lies I hate I hate I hate lies so stop telling lies and tell me
the truth for locals of southfields it was common to see Sophie Leon out and about with
Sabrina's children often holding hands it was clear that she was a hard worker and the children seemed to adore
her contrary to what Sabrina told police about Sophie being lazy and useless she
had been doing a standout job with the children a kind and gentle soul with unlimited patience Sophie put enormous
effort into her work which took its toll on her it wasn't in her nature to hurt anyone especially not the very children
she had been employed to look after at one point she even helped the kids set up a Min stand on the street to
sell sweets and biscuits but in the weeks leading up to Sophie's death neighbors had seen less
and less of her during one visit to the local fish and chip shop owner Michael could tell
by Sophie's body language that something wasn't right he' suspected The Nanny wasn't
doing well as he noticed she often had tears in her eyes Michael asked Sophie what was wrong
and she confided that Sabrina had beat her Michael was shocked he was friendly with Sabrina
quair and Weis meduni as the trio were in talks of doing business business together he asked Sophie what happened
to cause the baiting the reason was Preposterous she had dropped the butter Michael's heart went out to
Sophie he'd once seen Sabrina yelling at her on the street but she was speaking in French so he didn't know what she was
saying Michael offered to help Sophie find a new job and place to live but he never saw her again
Sabrina was also wrong in telling police that Sophie had been mingling with a rough
crowd truth was she had barely socialized with anyone outside of Sabrina's Home South builds was full of other
foreign nannies many of whom bonded together but Sophie mostly kept to herself some noticed that Sabrina took
advantage of Sophie's soft Nature by making her work long hours and take on additional duties like cooking and
cleaning Sophie was particularly shy and quiet which made her vulnerable to exploitation a family friend named
Steven witnessed Sabrina screaming at Sophie in French on several occasions Sophie looked scared and
hungry as though she was in some kind of Trance Steven was so concerned that Sophie wasn't eating enough that he once
brought food over for her he confronted Sabrina about her aggressive behavior but Sabrina said
that Sophie was lazy and didn't do enough cooking a former friend of sabrinas named Nicole once visited the home to
find Sophie on the floor and Sabrina attacking her Nicole had to intervene as Sabrina
tried to kick Sophie and hit her with a chair afterwards Nicole was so worried about Sophie that she took her into her
own home with the intention of helping her get back to France Sabrina found out about it and
turned up on Nicole's doorstep quote screaming like a mad woman she stormed in and demanded Sophie
get her stuff and return to the flat Nicole asked Sabrina to calm down but she was so lied that even Nicole was
terrified of her the extent of what Sophie Leon was enduring in London was a secret she
never revealed to her family in any of her correspondence to them back home Sophie was from a modest family in
tuah a small provintial town in Northeast France it was the lack of employment opportunities in tuah that had brought
her to London in the first place a qualified child care worker she believed that a temporary move would
Kickstart her career and give her the chance to improve her English the prospect of life in the big
city excited Sophie she loved the Arts and sought a life surrounded by Cinema dance and
theater she responded to an ad to work as a living Nanny and was thrilled to be hired by Sabrina
quair the Glamorous woman and her celebrity stuttered lifestyle played perfectly into Sophie's dream image of
what life in London would be like in 2016 just days after her 20th birthday Sophie left France and moved into
Sabrina's flat on Wimbledon Park Road case File will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening
to this episode sponsors in Bakersfield California in 1991 two boys stumbled upon a Grizzly Discovery
the murdered body of a young woman in the shadows is the new podcast from wondery plus and casefile presents which
follows the ensuing 32-year ordeal to uncover those responsible for the crime and bring them to justice during the
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the end of today's episode thank you for listening to this episode's ads by supporting our sponsors
you support case File to continue to deliver quality content the job started off well Sophie
got along with Sabrina's sons and looked forward to earning a decent wage Sabrina even gave her a glamorous
makeover which Sophie proudly showed off on social media but after about a year Sophie told
her parents she was bored and wanted to come home she said there were tensions in the
family and it was getting harder to take care of the children she was made to sleep in the
same bedroom as Sabrina's Sons which meant she had little time to herself she also told her mother Cath
Catherine that she was not being paid Catherine voiced these concerns to Sabrina who reassured her that Sophie
was being paid into an English bank account police tried to find the English bank account that Sabrina claimed Sophie
was being paid into but it didn't exist it didn't appear that Sophie was being paid at
all Sabrina also urged Catherine to encourage her daughter to stay on explaining she thought of Sophie like a
sister and needed her around it was clear that the feeling wasn't Mutual when Sophie suddenly asked
her mother for money so she could return to France Catherine obliged but Sophie never ended up purchasing a ticket
home Sophie's parents were devastated to learn the truth of what their daughter had endured in
London had they known she was in any kind of trouble they would have immediately traveled to help
her investigators remained unconvinced that what they were being told was the full truth of what happened to
Sophie they ultimately charged both wh meduni and Sabrina quair with her murder and the obstruction of her
body the couple continued to assert that whome interrogated Sophie alone and that
her death was accidental in the late up to their trial whome offered to plead guilty to
manslaughter but the request was denied 3 days later he turned the case upside down when he retracted his
confession claiming he'd been lying all along to protect Sabrina those who knew the couple were
aware the relationship between Sabrina and whome wasn't entirely evenhanded some friends thought whome was quote
punching above his weight which led him to accept less than ideal treatment from
Sabrina over the years when she left him for other men whome always welcomed her
back the truth according to whome was that on the evening of Monday September 18 he'd been asleep when Sabrina
suddenly woke him up she kept repeating what have I done what have I done she told him Sophie was in the bath
and wasn't breathing whome got up and found Sophie's lifeless body lying in the tub he spent over an hour trying to
revive her but it was too late she was already dead Sabrina refused to call the police
suggesting they burn Sophie's body instead whis eventually relented because he wanted to protect Sabrina and to keep
her family together he put Sophie's body in a suitcase and agreed to lie to the police in his written statement whome
said I have always loved Sabrina and tried to protect her this led me to make a very regrettable
choices I should have been more assertive with Sabrina had I been Sophie Leon would probably still be
alive wh went on to paint Sabrina as the hard cop when dealing with Sophie on one occasion Sabrina had
forced Sophie into the bath and held her head underwater in the beard of extracting a confession about Mark
Walton on another she hit Sophie with an electric cable so hard in the legs that
she couldn't stand or walk properly whome admitted that he'd done nothing to stop the attacks or seek medical help
for Sophie Sabrina had fully convinced him that Sophie was helping Mark Walton sexually abuse Sabrina's
Sons he maintained that he had never hurt Sophie himself or been involved with any of the AXS on the night she was
[Music] killed investigators viewed wh's confession with skepticism by this point they had spoken
to Sabrina's youngest son the one at the center of the allegations against Sophie
and Mark Walton for the sake of clarity case File will refer to him as Gareth on the night of Monday September
18 Gareth woke up to the sound of noises coming from the family bedroom he got up to see what was going
on and noticed there was water spilling out from underneath the bathroom door inside Gareth could hear the voices
of his mother and stepfather he also heard the sound of water splashing and Sophie
crying the next morning he noticed his mother seemed happy and relaxed Gareth asked what had happened
and Sabrina told him that Sophie was gone and they wouldn't be seeing her again gareth's statements placed both Sabrina
and whome at the scene of the crime completely shattering The Narrative that one of them acted alone in assaulting
Sophie while the other person slept with the couple refusing to tell the truth investigators were left to
charge them both with murder and piece together their own conclusions based on the
evidence they believed that the couple had essentially held Sophie prisoner inside their home home for 6
weeks during this time they confiscated her phone so she couldn't contact anyone
without Sabrina being present they withheld food until Sophie would say or agree with whatever they
demanded just to eat they also forced her to sleep in a tiny dark room where she withered
away they interrogated her so intensely and violently that they eventually wore her down enough to extract a false
confession which they dictated to her as she wrote it down they likely aimed to use the
confession to Blackmail Mark Walton into giving them more money Sophie said and did everything the
couple wanted in an effort to survive even if she knew it wasn't true exactly how Sophie died and who had
killed her remained a mystery it also wasn't clear if she had been killed by accident during one of
the torture sessions or if the couple decided she had to die either way police believe Sabrina
and whome collectively put Sophie's body in a suitcase and hid it under one of the children's beds while deciding how
to dispose of it they then went about their normal lives for the next 2 days with CCTV
footage capturing them going grocery shopping and taking the children to school like nothing had
[Music] happened Sabrina and whis's Joint trial began in March 2018 both pleaded guilty to perverting
the course of Justice by burning Sophie's body but not guilty to her murder it was an exhaustive trial that
lasted 43 days during which both defendants continued to blame one another for her
death on the stand Sabrina said that whome tortured Sophie in the bath by putting her head underwater and by
covering her mouth with a water soaked towel Sabrina shocked the court by claiming whim demanded they have sex
near Sophie's body to quote Mark the occasion and she had obliged whome tested ified that Sabrina
had killed Sophie and then asked for his help to cover up the crime he said he didn't want to burn sop's body but went
along with the plan because Sabrina asked him to he said It felt disgusting and horrible one of Sabrina's ex-boyfriend
said unpredictable unstable and obsessive Behavior was typical of Sabrina he described her as a quote
fickle lunatic and said she took advantage of people weaker than her quote she would lie her behavior was
strange she was aggressive sometimes she was violent and pulled the hair of girls
on the street just because of a look she had a jewel face a jewel personality she
was manipulative she could charm and tell lies she could be as lovable as she could be detestable
the prosecution pointed out that Sabrina had a track record of calling the police
for a range of minor complaints once she had reported that whome was working too hard and another
time she reported that a wooden toy was being used in their bathroom it was revealed that in May of
2017 Sabrina had been diagnosed with depression and borderline personality disorder the L is characterized by
emotional and mood instability insecurity and impulsivity that can result in impaired Social
relationships Sabrina's lawyer argued that his client's mental illness caused the rational delusions that led her to
genuinely believe that Sophie Leon had been recruited by Mark Walton to facilitate the abuse of her
family he said Sabrina's Behavior towards Sophie was quote entirely driven by Sabrina's mental illness in her
desperation to obtain evidence of Mr Walton's abuse the prosecution described Sabrina
and whome as a truly toxic combination their unhealthy myopic all consuming and a groundless obsession
with Mark Walton had deprived them of reason and turned Sophie into something less than human
they argued that Sophie was killed out of Revenge and punishment for Mark Walton refusing to financially support
Sabrina while only the two defendants would ever know who killed Sophie the prosecution stated that were both
equally responsible for coming up with the plan to destroy her body and Escape responsibility for the horrendous
crime the presiding judge accepted that Sabrina had significant influence over whome but that didn't matter in the
grand scheme of things whome was an intelligent and well educated man who knew Sophie was in
danger and did nothing to help her or put a stop to the abuse despite Sabrina's bizarre behavior
whum also actively went along with the interrogation sessions without coercion while understanding that
Sabrina's mental illness played a role the judge concluded that her behavior was ultimately driven by cruelty and a
desire for revenge against Mark Walton he was convinced that Sabrina intended to use Sophie's audio and
written confession to Blackmail Mark for financial gain while Sabrina's mental illness
could be blamed for her delusions it couldn't explain the violent and brutal treatment of
Sophie quote the suffering in the the torture you put her through before her death was
prolonged and Without Pity Sabrina quad and wh meduni were found guilty of the murder of Sophie
Leon they were sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 30 years 9 months after sop's murder her
body was finally returned to France her mother Catherine would later remark they took away my daughter's
dignity and finally her life painfully ebed away until she struggled to take her last breath in that
bath the case haunts Mark Walton who was inadvertently pulled into the nightmare
Sabrina created in an emotional interview with Good Morning Britain Mark said the hardest thing for me going to
bed at 9 night was knowing that Sophie was telling the truth every time that she was answering those questions and
interrogations she never met me many have questioned how wh meduni accepted Sabrina quad's implausible lies
about Sophie given he was an intelligent and sane man the couple's case has since been
labeled an example of folly ad do a rare psychiatric syndrome where two individuals share an identical
delusion the delusion is typically shared from one person to another in this case Sabrina created the
delusions regarding Sophie and Mark and then transmitted them onto whome his love for Sabrina prevented him
from viewing her behavior critically and honestly instead he let himself believe
in her Twisted reality and by doing so enabled and emboldened her another example of the Folly ad do
phenomenon is the Ericson twins covered in episode 17 of case File as for why Sophie didn't leave or
otherwise seek help it's likely that she didn't feel able to Sabrina and whome intimidated and
bullied her to the point that she felt completely powerless physically mentally and financially
police never found her passport or the money her mother had given her for a return ticket to
France it's suspected the couple took them away to prevent Sophie from escaping while Sophie's exact reasonings
for staying would never be known investigators did find a short note that she had written shortly before her
murder it read why me I need help to stop them [Music] [Music] [Music] on a chilly night in 1991 a group of
teenagers gathered in their usual hangout a Barren stretch of desert next to a busy highway near Bakersfield
California a dismal spot littered with trash and shell casings by Nightfall it turned into a sort of Lovers Lane where
high school kids drank and smoked when two boys left their group and headed into the darkness They Came
Upon a horrific scene the body of a young woman murdered just hours before she had no enemies besides girls at
school teenage stuff not any kind of trouble that somebody would murder her this 1991 murder made news headlines for
years as it shocked and divided a quiet workingclass community of course I knew about Maria's case everyone in
Bakersfield knows about Maria's case people were just they were glued to their TV sets they read the paper every
day there was a lot of speculation in wasow that maybe he was not the all-around athlete that people thought
he might be when he lied about being her boyfriend I feel like he had something to do with it justice took its course in
a twisted and controversial case that captivated many but what if the real killer were yet to be discovered cuz he
warned me that he told me that I would tell the detective that he was here when he wasn't really here if you ask the
sheriff's department and if you asked the prosecutor's office they would say yeah we solved it it's just unfortunate
how things ended up in this series we will hear brand new Clues interview people that have never spoken publicly
before and discover family secrets that shed light on who may have killed Maria Rodriguez and why I kind of want all of
our families hidden secrets and all of the dark past I want it to come out to light I'm Octavia McKenry for casile
presents and this is in the shadows the story of Maria Rodriguez

Case 236: Sophie Lionnet

When residents of the affluent Southfields area of south-west London notice foul smelling smoke coming from a home on Wimbledon Park Drive in September 2017, firefighters arrive to make sure the house isn’t in danger. Nothing could prepare them for what they find instead – the burning human remains of French au pair, 21-year-old Sophie Lionnet.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

Website https://www.casefilepodcast.com Facebook https://www.facebook.com/casefile Twitter https://twitter.com/case_file Instagram https://www.instagram.com/casefilepodcast Patreon https://www.patreon.com/casefile Casefile Presents https://casefilepresents.com

RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-236-sophie-lionnet

Brief Summary

The episode discusses the Lint Cafe siege and the murder of nanny Sophie Leon by her employers, highlighting abuse and psychological manipulation.

Key points

Lindt Cafe Siege. A lone wolf terrorist held 18 hostages in a Sydney cafe for over 16 hours.
Shocking Discovery. Firefighters discover human remains while responding to a barbecue complaint.
The Nanny's Fate. Sabrina's nanny Sophie is found dead after being subjected to violent interrogations.
Sabrina's Descent into Madness. Sabrina's behavior escalates to bizarre accusations and extreme actions against Mark and Sophie.
The Tragic Fate of Sophie Leon. Sophie, a kind nanny, faces escalating abuse and ultimately a tragic end.
The Folly Ad Do Syndrome. A rare psychiatric syndrome where two individuals share an identical delusion.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It's not a child!

Whis Medan's shocking claim about the body found in the fire.

0:40WatchFeb 25, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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