East Finchley double murder: Alleged ‘assassin’ Obina Ezeoke had getaway car ‘under his control’ court hears
Annie Besala Ekofo and Bervil Kalikala-Ekofo. - Credit: Archant
A “cowardly killer” committed “execution-style” murders of an aunt and her nephew in East Finchley as part of a “deliberate and targeted attack on the household”, the Old Bailey heard.
Family members outside flats in East Finchley where Annie and Bervil were found dead with gunshot wounds. Picture: PA - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
Obina Ezeoke, 27, of Jacquard Court, Bishops Way, Bethnal Green, is accused of killing psychology student Bervil Kalikaka-Ekofo at his aunt's home in East Finchley before turning his gun on the aunt, Annie Besala Ekofo, "seconds later" after she awoke to see him, allegedly attempting to flee.
Annie, 53, and Bervil, 21, were both shot dead in Annie's Elmshurst Crescent home at around 6.15am on September 15, 2016 in an alleged case of mistaken identity.
Mark Heywood QC told an Old Bailey jury: "An assassin crept noiselessly into a sleeping family home. The crown's case is that the cowardly killer is this defendant - Obina Ezeoke."
Mr Heywood argued Ezeoke had "deliberately targeted" the household, "probably also as part of a vendetta of violence".
Police officers outside flats in Elmshurst Crescent, East Finchley, where Annie Ekofo, 52, and her nephew Bervil, 21, where found dead with gunshot wounds. Picture; Daniel Leal-Olivas / PA - Credit: PA Archive/PA Images
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He also told the jury that the car used by the killer to get to and from the scene - a black Vauxhall Meriva - was "under the control" of Ezeoke.
Mr Heywood alleged that although it had been purchased under the name "Watle Oliver", this was a "cover".
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In court, before Mr Justice William Davis, the prosecutor pointed the jury towards evidence that Ezeoke had repeatedly looked at adverts for the car before it was sold in the months leading up to the killings and had taken out insurance on it afterwards.
The jury was also told the registered address of the vehicle was a Turnpike Lane property which was then recently-vacated by the girlfriend of one of Ezeoke's friends. The prosecutor added: "By August, he was using the vehicle on almost a daily basis."
Recalling the moments the killer struck, the prosecutor said Mr Kalikaka-Ekofo was shot with the gun "almost touching his head" and, after "the peace was shattered", Ezeoke had shot Ms Ekofo because "he could not afford to be caught".
Mr Heywood added: "It suited him, therefore, to use the weapon again. He levelled the barrel and pulled the trigger a second time, even as the nearly naked woman turned away from danger.
"For the second time in just seconds, he quite deliberately took a life."
Ezeoke denies two charges of murder.
The trial continues.