A man who was arrested after he was found in the driver’s seat of a Mercedes with a dead body in the boot told detectives he was completely innocent, a murder trial has been told.
Kaziku Tuwizana, 31, was charged with the murder of Shkelqim Paja, 31, a Kosovan national, and Arber Fesko, 30, an Albanian.
Tuwizana was arrested by police after he was found in the driver’s seat of a Mercedes car in the car park of a Persian restaurant in Scratchwood Park, Barnet, north London on 19 December 2019. The body of Mr Fesko - who had been stabbed was in the boot.
1/2: Met Police confirm a linked double murder investigation in relation to two men who were stabbed to death - one in #Barnet, north-London and the discovery of a body on a country lane in #Elstree, Herts.
— London 999 (@999London) December 21, 2019
The first victim, 30, was found with stab wounds inside
More below. pic.twitter.com/xXHSmgvexj
The body of Mr Paja was found in undergrowth in Elstree, Hertfordshire the following day. He too had been stabbed.
Tuwizana is on trial at the Old Bailey in London along with Besnik Berisha, 42, and Bobby Rogers.
Killed Over £15,000 Debt?
The prosecutor, Jane Bickerstaff QC, has told the jury the exact motive for the murder of Mr Paja and Mr Fesko was unclear but she said Mr Paja’s wife, Rezata, believed Mr Berisha owed him £15,000 and she thought that on the night he died they had agreed to meet and he hoped Mr Berisha was going to finally pay the debt.
But she said instead the pair were killed by a group of men who arrived in a van in Courtland Avenue, Mill Hill.
On Wednesday, 26 May, the trial jury was told about what Tuwizana said when interviewed by police after his arrest.
Tuwizana, who was from Catford, south London, claimed he was in a car with his two “cousins”, who both lived in Barking, east London, and they had gone for a drive in north London in a Mercedes A Class car when they came across a fight in the street.
When a detective asked him to explain exactly what had happened Tuwizana said: "I saw an incident. I got out of the car and as I got nearer I got stabbed. There were two guys tried, they tried to do stuff to me….I was trying to stop (the fight) but I ended up getting stabbed in the arm."
'Woke Up To Be Accused Of Murder'
Tuwizana said he was then hit on the forehead and knocked unconscious and when he woke up he found himself in the driver’s seat of the Mercedes in the car park of the restaurant, half a mile from where the fight took place.
He told the detective: "I was screaming for help and pouring out blood. I had my pouch and in it was my passport. Three men ran off. I don’t know how I got there."
Detectives interrogated Tuwizana further and he said the “cousins” were not actually relatives but friends called Mirror and Bruno. He said he did not know their surnames.
The jury has been told that a Taser was also found among Tuwizana’s belongings and he has pleaded guilty to possession of an offensive weapon.
Mystery Of Blood Pattern In The Car
Tuwizana claimed he must have been bundled into the Mercedes and then put in the driver’s seat when it arrived at the restaurant but he was unable to explain why the only blood in the car was on the left-hand side of the driver’s seat.
A detective asked him: “Why is there a body that has been stabbed in the back of that car?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t got a clue,” Tuwizana replied.
The detective asked him why he had stopped to tackle “knife-wielding strangers.”
“Why not? Why not?” he replied.
“What about your cousins? What happened to them?” the detective asked.
“They went to see some girls I think. Look, I’ve not killed no-one. I’ve not stabbed no-one,” replied Tuwizana.
The trial continues.
