Case snapshot
Sabina Nessa, a 28-year-old primary school teacher, left her flat in southeast London on the evening of September 17, 2021, to meet a friend at a nearby pub. She chose a route through Cator Park, a five-minute walk she had taken many times before. She never arrived. Her body was found the next afternoon, hidden beneath a pile of leaves near a community center in the same park.
The last known movements
Sabina left her ground-floor flat in Astell Road, Kidbrooke, just before 8:30 p.m. She wore a black leather jacket, black jeans, and white trainers. CCTV footage captured her walking alone along Pegler Square, heading toward Cator Park. The footage showed her moving at a normal pace, her phone in hand. She appeared calm, unhurried.
At 8:34 p.m., she entered the park. Less than ten minutes later, she was attacked.
Sabina never made it to the Depot Bar, where her friend waited. By 9 p.m., her friend tried calling her. The calls went unanswered. Text messages were sent. Nothing. Her friend assumed she had changed her mind or been delayed. It wasn’t until the next day, when Sabina failed to show up for work, that concern escalated.
The discovery
On the afternoon of September 18, a member of the public walking through Cator Park noticed something unusual near the OneSpace community center. Beneath a pile of leaves, partially concealed, was a body. Police were called immediately.
The body was identified as Sabina Nessa. A post-mortem examination revealed she had been struck over the head repeatedly with a blunt object. The attack had been brutal, sustained, and deliberate.
Investigators determined that Sabina had been killed shortly after entering the park. Her body had been moved a short distance and hidden. She had been dead for nearly 24 hours before she was found.
The investigation begins
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police launched a murder investigation. They combed through CCTV footage from cameras around Kidbrooke and the park. They identified a figure walking near the park around the time Sabina was attacked. The figure wore a grey hoodie and dark trousers, walking with purpose.
One piece of footage became crucial. It showed a man carrying what appeared to be a large object, possibly a bag or a weapon, walking through the park shortly before Sabina entered. Minutes later, the same figure was seen leaving the area.
Police released images of the man and appealed to the public for information. They also recovered a distinctive item near the scene: a metal traffic triangle, commonly used in emergency roadside kits. It was bloodstained. Forensic analysis later confirmed it had been used as the murder weapon.
The arrest
On September 25, 2021, eight days after the murder, police arrested a 36-year-old man named Koci Selamaj. He was stopped by officers in Eastbourne, East Sussex, more than 70 miles from the crime scene. He was detained on suspicion of murder.
Selamaj was a garage worker from Eastbourne. He had no known connection to Sabina Nessa. He did not live in Kidbrooke, did not work there, and had no apparent reason to be in Cator Park that night.
Investigators learned that Selamaj had driven from Eastbourne to London on the evening of September 17. He arrived in Kidbrooke around 8 p.m. He parked his car near the park and waited. He carried the metal traffic triangle with him.
Police believe he was not targeting Sabina specifically. He was waiting for a lone woman to walk through the park.
The evidence
Detectives recovered extensive evidence linking Selamaj to the crime. CCTV footage showed his silver Nissan Micra driving from Eastbourne to southeast London on the night of the murder. The same car was seen parked near Cator Park around the time of the attack.
Phone data placed Selamaj in the area. His movements matched the timeline of the murder. He had no alibi.
Forensic evidence was damning. Blood found on the metal traffic triangle matched Sabina’s DNA. The weapon belonged to Selamaj. It had been stored in his car.
Selamaj had also attempted to cover his tracks. After the attack, he disposed of Sabina’s phone and other items in a river near Eastbourne. He changed his clothes and cleaned his car. He returned home and went to work the next day as if nothing had happened.
The guilty plea
On February 16, 2022, Koci Selamaj appeared at the Old Bailey in London. He pleaded guilty to the murder of Sabina Nessa. He offered no explanation for why he had done it. He made no apology.
In court, prosecutors outlined the sequence of events. Selamaj had driven to London with the intention of attacking a woman. He waited in the park, watching. When Sabina walked past, he struck her from behind with the metal triangle. She fell immediately. He continued to hit her, over and over, even after she had collapsed.
He dragged her body a short distance and hid it under leaves. He then left the park, returned to his car, and drove home.
The attack lasted less than ten minutes. Sabina had no chance to defend herself or call for help.
The sentencing
On April 1, 2022, Koci Selamaj was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 36 years. The judge described the attack as premeditated and savage. He noted that Selamaj had shown no remorse and had targeted Sabina simply because she was a woman walking alone.
Sabina’s family gave victim impact statements in court. Her sister described Sabina as kind, ambitious, and deeply loved. She said the family would never recover from the loss. Her father said he could not understand why anyone would hurt his daughter.
The case sparked renewed conversations about the safety of women in public spaces. Vigils were held across the UK. Many drew comparisons to the murder of Sarah Everard, who had been killed by a serving police officer earlier the same year while walking home in south London.
The unanswered questions
Koci Selamaj never explained why he drove to Kidbrooke that night. He never said why he chose Cator Park, or why he waited for a lone woman to pass. He gave no motive, no justification, no statement beyond his guilty plea.
Investigators believe the attack was random in the sense that Sabina was not personally known to Selamaj. But it was not impulsive. He had prepared. He had brought a weapon. He had chosen a location.
The questions remain: What was he thinking? What drove him to that park? And how many other women might have walked past him that night before Sabina did?
Where to dive deeper
- Documentary: “The Murder of Sabina Nessa” (Investigation Discovery)
- Podcast: “The Death of Sabina Nessa” (“Crime Junkie”, Audiochuck)
- Book: “The Fear That Follows: Women, Safety, and Violence in Public Spaces” by Emma Jackson
