In the mid-summer months of 2007, a quiet residential street in South Woodford, northeast London, became the scene of one of the city’s more unusual and disturbing unsolved homicides.
The attack occurred during the early morning hours of Sunday, August 5th, on Priory Close, a residential cul-de-sac in South Woodford. Twenty-four-year-old Daraj Asghar was seated in a car when he was approached by an attacker wielding what investigators believe was a sword.
The weapon inflicted catastrophic injuries before the attacker fled the scene. Emergency services responded quickly after reports of the assault, but Daraj’s injuries proved fatal.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police launched a full inquiry immediately following the killing. As with many murder investigations, police examined whether the killing had been targeted rather than random, given both the unusual weapon and the apparent precision of the assault. However, officials released few details publicly regarding possible motives during the investigation.
Not long after the crime, officers identified a suspect who eventually stood trial, but the man was acquitted.
Daraj Asghar’s killing is still an open and unsolved case at this writing, and both the motive and the perpetrator remain unknown.
Crime Immemorial 