Makram Abdul-Kadir was Somalian and was living in the UK in 2001, but beyond that, very little is known about him, including his age and when exactly he emigrated from his home country.
Makram had apparently been homeless in London for quite some time. On the evening of July 28th, 2001, he drank a great deal of alcohol and fell asleep in the back seat of a car that had been abandoned in an underground parking garage in Bayswater.
At some point during the night, passersby noticed thick black smoke pouring out of the garage and phoned the fire brigade. When they arrived, they found the abandoned car ablaze, and Makram dead inside.
Although Makram’s blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit, authorities found it unlikely that he’d simply set the car alight himself accidentally, as the fire was clearly started deliberately in the front seat.
A fifty-seven-year-old homeless man was found near the scene of the crime, mumbling to himself, and police suspected that he had set the car on fire. He was taken into custody and questioned, but he refused to cooperate with the investigation. The man was eventually tried for Makram’s murder, but was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
The mysterious arson homicide remains unsolved as of May 2025.
Crime Immemorial 