Two men have been found guilty of murder after two friends were lured to a street and brutally attacked.
Arber Fesko, 30, and Shkelqim Paja, 36, died after they were stabbed multiple times in December 2019 following a row over a debt.
Mr Fesko's body was discovered in the boot of a Mercedes off the A1 near Borehamwood, while Mr Paja's body had been dumped in bushes near the entrance to Elstree Aerodrome.
Following a trial at the Old Bailey on July 9, Kaziku Tuwisana, 33, of no fixed address and Besnik Berisha, 43, of Martock Gardens, Friern Barnet, were found guilty of both murders.
Victims were dumped separately
The Metropolitan Police first launched an investigation on December 20 2019 after police were called to reports of an attack in Courtlands Avenue in Mill Hill.
Just after 8pm, two separate witnesses reported seeing a group of men who appeared to be attacking another man. Further along the street, a second man had collapsed.
Officers arrived in Courtlands Avenue but there was no sign of any victims. Police did find Mr Paja's blood, along with his and Mr Fesko's mobile phones.
Cable ties, a knife and an empty knife sheath were also discovered, along with an unopened packet of disposable gloves.
Shortly after, the Met were called to Scratchwood Open Space on the A1 near Borehamwood after Tuwisana went into a venue there to report he had been attacked. He was suffering a stab wound to the arm.
He told police he had tried to intervene in a fight and that he had been bundled into a black Mercedes before being dumped at Scratchwood.
When police searched the Mercedes, which turned out to be Mr Paja's, they found the body of Mr Fesko in the boot. A forensic tent and cordon was set up at the car park.
Tuwisana, who had a stun gun on him, was taken to hospital for treatment and subsequently arrested.
Mr Paja's body, along with cable ties and a baseball cap, was found dumped the following day in Hogg Lane, which leads up to Elstree Aerodrome. The road was cordoned off for some time, and at the time, police confirmed the discovery was being linked to an incident in London.
A 'strained friendship'
During the trial, the Old Bailey in central London heard how Mr Paja and Berisha had known each other for around three years prior to the murders.
In the last year, their friendship had become "strained"; police believe this is due to a sum of money - around £15,000 - that Berisha owed to Mr Paja.
On December 19 2019, Mr Paja raised concerns Berisha was "planning something behind his back" but the next day, Berisha told him he was ready to pay back the money owed in full.
That evening, Mr Paja went to Courtlands Avenue, close to where he lived, in the company of family friend Mr Fesko to meet Berisha.
'Irrefutable evidence'
Detective Sergeant Pete Walker, from the Met’s specialist crime command, said his team provided "irrefutable evidence" that Tuwisana and Berisha were involved in carrying out two "brutal" murders.
The court heard how Berisha, who owned a distinctive white Peugeot van, met Tuwisana on the afternoon of December 19 in Stratford in east London.
From there, they travelled to the Highbury area of north London where they visited several hardware shops and purchased items such as lighter fluid, disposable gloves and cloths.
Shortly after 7pm, CCTV captured the van outside Highbury and Islington station. From there the van travelled to Courtlands Avenue in Mill Hill where an attack was later carried out.
Police found no victims but seized some evidence in the street, including a knife that was forensically linked to Tuwisana and an empty knife sheath that was forensically linked to Berisha.
The unopened packet of disposable gloves were identical to the ones purchased by Berisha and Tuwisana just hours earlier in Highbury.
Later on, CCTV showed Berisha's Peugeot van being driven to and from Hogg Lane in Elstree, where Mr Paja's body was found.
Berisha was arrested on December 23 2019 but claimed that he had sold his van on the day prior to the murders.
Checks with the DVLA revealed a transfer document had been received in relation to the van, but not until December 23. The person and address listed on the transfer was visited by police but they had no knowledge of the van.
Berisha's van was found abandoned somewhere in Barnet on December 30. When police checked CCTV, they established it had been dumped there ten days earlier.
Inside the back of the van, Mr Paja's blood was found and further analysis showed blood belonging to Mr Fesko on the glove box in the front of the van.
Officers also recovered a knife from the van which fitted the sheath recovered at the scene of the murders in Courtlands Avenue.
DS Walker said: "Throughout this investigation, the two defendants have refused to say why they carried out this brutal attack on Shkelqim Paja and Arber Fesko. However, the weight of evidence my team has gathered has spoken for itself and provided irrefutable evidence that both of these men were involved in carrying out two brutal murders.
"This has been a challenging investigation but the diligence of the evidence gathering and tenacity of the officers involved has ensured Berisha and Tuwisana have been held to account for their actions.
"Nothing will ever bring Shkelqim and Arber back, but I can only hope that these convictions can bring some sense of justice to their families."
Berisha and Tuwisana will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on July 16.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here