Isa-Din Shire had something of a tumultuous life leading up to his possible murder. Originally from Somalia, he had joined the army there when he was only fifteen, eventually attaining the rank of second lieutenant. In 1988, he traveled to the UK for military training, but shortly afterward, an injury forced him out of the service. That same year, civil war broke out in Somalia, and Isa-Din fled the country, claiming political asylum in England. Sadly, his wife and two children drowned on the journey.
In 2001, Isa-Din was living in Maida Vale in west London, and was locally known as The Mayor. He was well-liked by friends and neighbors, but was something of a heavy drinker.
On January 15th, 2001, a neighbor noted that the door to Isa-Din’s flat was open. He thought this strange and entered the residence, at which point he found Isa-Din lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Emergency services were summoned and attempted to revive the victim, but Isa-Din was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Mary’s Hospital.
The cause of death was determined to be a fractured skull, but the coroner couldn’t determine whether the injury had been an accident or murder, and returned an open verdict. The presence of two large areas of bruising on his chest was also noted.
An investigation into Isa-Din’s movements on the day of his death found that the victim had been engaged in an argument with a friend over money earlier in the day at another flat in the same area. Isa-Din had reportedly punched this friend in the face, knocking him to the floor and necessitating a call to an ambulance. According to another friend who was present, they had all been drinking since earlier that morning. Isa-Din had walked back to his nearby flat before the ambulance showed up for his friend.
Police found some blood on the ground between the friend’s flat and Isa-Din’s, though it didn’t belong to the dead man.
The neighbor who found Isa-Din’s body said it was possible that Isa-Din had simply slipped and fallen in his inebriated state, but also asserted that it was highly unlikely that he would have left the door to his flat open, as he never did that.
The nebulous case remains a mystery nearly a quarter of a century later.
Crime Immemorial 