She was hired as a nanny by an upper-class London couple and was brutally murdered

In 2016, at the age of 20, the young Frenchman Sophie Lionnet She followed the same path as many young women of her age: apply like nanny or au pair in a foreign country to strengthen another language, have work and life experience in a field other than their own.

Sofia she had grown up in a working family in rural France and settling in a big city was a big dream for her.

With that impetus he arrived in a highly sought after and attractive part of London. More precisely, a Southfieldsouthwest of the city, on the street Wimbledon Park Roadin a charming mansion at the price of 1 million pounds.

In that residence, the couple made up of Sabrina Kouider, 35, and Ouissem Medouni, 40, lived together with a son of Sabrina and another of the couple.

Sabrina, a French citizen, worked as celebrity makeup artist, songwriter and fashion designer. He, of Algerian origin, specialized in financial analysis and worked in a bank.

As for the children, the eldest was 6 years old, and he was Sabrina’s son with a successful entrepreneur in the music industry-; and the youngest, 3 years old, of that marriage.

Sophie’s job would be to take care of them. It all led to the assumption that they weren’t children with behavioral problems.

From illusion to nightmare

For the first few days, nothing set off the alarm in Sophie. Sabrina was active and flaunted her connections with celebrities. Ouissem seemed to be very attentive to her partner.

But in a very short time Sophie knew the reality. Sabrina was very ambitious. She was well positioned in her pursuits of hers, but nothing satisfied her.

Moreover, she had ended her relationship with the father of her first child in bad terms, she was obsessed with him and the economic life that could be lived by his side.

This led her to make false accusations against him for pedophilia and black magic.

Ouissem was a submissive and totally manipulated man. Added to this was the fact that, driven by his wife’s demands, he had lost his job and this further inflamed his discomfort.

The mistreatment of Sophie

A few days after installation, the situation of Sofia it was already an ordeal. They started yelling at her and later made up allegations of jewelry theft.

Then the punishments. This included not paying his salary and withholding his passport.

Without many options to escape and overwhelmed by the situation, Sophie lowered her eyes, hid her tears and avoided confrontation.

Until they started beating her or leaving her without eating. She feared them more and more. But she felt paralyzed.

He had told his father that he was going to go back because the weather was not good in the house. Even though he didn’t give them too many details.

Your escape attempts

Sophie had no passport or money. Furthermore, she felt completely devastated and was very physically weak.

She once tried to go to the home of family acquaintances, but Sabrina followed her and forced her to go back.

Another friend of the couple found her crying and asked her what was wrong. Sabrina listened to him and then Sophie couldn’t answer.

Until in the last weeks of his life he asked his mother for money to return. She would send him the money. But she Sophie dared not leave.

The least expected ending

On 20 September 2017, the neighbors of the Medouni-Kouider family were surprised by a fragrant smoke. When asked what was going on, she said, “I’m burning a lamb.”

Not satisfied with that version, they called the fire brigade.

The couple were visibly uncomfortable with the presence of the public forces. They put out the fire, but they didn’t even believe the owners’ explanation. So they decided to call the police.

There the truth about what happened was discovered: Sophie had been killed and then burned in the garden. Sabrina and Ouissem were immediately arrested.

The trial of Sabrina and Ouissem

The following year the trial was held. As proof, More than eight and a half hours of chilling videos recovered from the defendants’ cell phones were played. Some recorded a few hours before the murder.

In some sections, Sabrina was trying to get Sophie to confess that she was plotting with her ex. The strategy would be to extort money from the businessman.

Before the jury, Sabrina showed no remorse and said that Sophie had stolen her diamond earrings.

He also said that his ex was a pedophile and that, with Sophie’s help, he had drugged and abused his family.

The autopsy revealed that Sophie had a broken jaw, a split breastbone and five fractured ribs.

The prosecutor ruled that Sophie had been imprisoned in “a domestic nightmare” and that “the defendants burned the body in the garden of their home in the hope that no one would ever recover their remains”.

According to the reports, Sabrina suffered from a personality disorder and depression, but this did not release her from any guilt as she recognized her actions. Medouni had to admit that Sabrina was short-tempered.

Sophie’s parents never imagined what their daughter was going through. When her mother found out that Sophie was not entirely satisfied with her work, she asked her to return to France but she could not convince her. “She I will never forgive the savages who killed her,” said her father.

Phrase

On 24 May 2018, Sabrina Kouider and Ouissem Medouni were sentenced to life imprisonment. They must spend at least 30 years behind bars.

Medouni is still trying to convince his lawyers to find some technical error in the legal process that will allow him to regain his freedom. Sophie’s parents, on the other hand, expect both of them to serve their entire sentences.

With information from the book “The day they killed me”, by Carolina Balbiani, published by Indie Books.