The death of a Norwegian student in the heart of one of London’s richest areas 16 years ago will be revisited tonight in a gritty documentary.
Murder in Mayfair, which airs on BBC Two this evening after first being shown in March 2023, tells the gritty story of the rape and murder of Martine Vik Magnussen.
The documentary sees Nawal Al-Maghafi searching for answers about what happened to Martine, who was found strangled to death underneath rubble in the basement of a Great Portland Street flat in 2008.Â
The lead suspect in the case is Farouk Abdulhak, the son of a Yemeni billionaire who fled to Yemen within hours of the 23-year-old socialite student’s death.
How did Martine Vik Magnussen and Farouk Abdulhak meet?
Farouk and Ms Magnussen both studied at Regent’s Business School in London, with Martine hoping to become a financier in the capital.Â
It was reported that Ms Magnussen and Farouk had ‘previously dated,’ but it was not determined if the pair had been dating during the time of her death.
As the students celebrated the end of exams, Ms Magnussen and her friends partied with Farouk and his pals at the exclusive Maddox nightclub in Mayfair.
In the early hours of 14 March 2008, Farouk then offered to host an after-party at his apartment in Great Portland Street, central London.
Her friends declined the invitation as they became too tired to continue the night, but as Ms Magnussen wanted to continue partying, she decided to go alone.
CCTV shows Ms Magnussen leaving the club with Farouk at 02:59 – by sunrise, she would be dead – though her body would not be discovered for at least another 48 hours.
How did Martine Vik Magnussen die and how did Farouk Abdulhak flee the country?
Meanwhile, Farouk – – nicknamed ‘DP’ by friends for his love of Dom Perignon champagne – had fled the country, having taken a flight to Egypt only hours after the student had died, where he used his father’s private jet to fly to Yemen.Â
Brought up between the US and Egypt, Farouk is the son of the late Shaher Abdulhak, who was one of the richest and most powerful men in Yemen.
Abdulhak Sr. forged an empire of sugar, soft drinks, oil and arms – and was a close friend of the president at the time, Ali Abdullah Saleh.
He previously had investments in Coca-Cola bottling plants but gave these up in 2012 following pressure from campaigners. He died in Germany in 2020 while receiving treatment for an illness.
Has Farouk Abdulhak ever been brought to justice?
Farouk Abdulhak, now 36, remains holed up in Yemen and has refused to come back to the UK where he is accused of the rape and murder.
Despite being on the Met Police‘s most wanted list and the subject of an international arrest warrant, Farouk has not been apprehended.
There is no extradition treaty between Britain and Yemen and despite extensive international efforts, Farouk failed to return to answer questions and has stayed out of the public eye since the incident.
He was, however, tracked down in 2023 by Nawal Al-Maghafi for the BBC documentary Murder In Mayfair, with the journalist exchanging a flurry of texts with Abdulhak before also speaking to him on the phone.Â
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In his first ever media interview, he admitted to killing Ms Magnussen but said he wouldn’t be returning to Britain to face trial ‘because I don’t like the weather’ and claimed the justice system would discriminate against him because he was ‘the son of a rich Arab’.
In messages to the reporter, the alleged killer said: ‘I did something when I was younger. It was a mistake. I deeply regret the unfortunate accident that happened.
‘I regret coming here [to Yemen]. Should have stayed and paid the piper. It was just an accident. Nothing nefarious…just a sex accident gone wrong.’
He claimed not to remember the night of Ms Vik Magnussen’s death, saying it was ‘all a blur’, but said he had flashbacks and felt ‘uncomfortable’ ‘when he smells ‘a certain female perfume’.
Asked if he had taken advice from a UK lawyer, he added: ‘Trust me I’m legally f*****.’
Abdulhak said he had taken cocaine on the night and ‘couldn’t remember’ why he moved Ms Vik Magnussen’s body.
Ms Al-Maghafi later spoke to the fugitive on the phone and asked him if he wanted to help the student’s family ‘get answers’.
He said: ‘I don’t know what answers they want to get. Nothing is going to bring their daughter back. There’s nothing that’s going to change what happened.’
Asked whether he would consider coming back, he replied glibly: ‘Perhaps. It’s too cold there. I don’t like the weather. I don’t think justice will be served. I find that the criminal justice system there is heavily biased.
‘I think they will want to make an example of me, being the son of an Arab. Being a rich son…’
When asked if he would speak to Ms Vik Magnussen’s father, he said: ‘I don’t know. I don’t even know if I could talk to him. It would be too hard for me.’
He added: ‘It’s been 14 years. What’s another year or two. I don’t really care. I don’t want to talk about this. Move on please. It’s making me feel uncomfortable.’
When it was pointed out to him that Ms Vik Magnussen’s murder had ‘taken over’ her father’s life, he replied ‘that’s his choice’ and said he ‘doesn’t think about’ what happened.
Last year, a documentary on Discovery+ revealed that Abdulhak mostly lived at home under guard and had few friends.
One relative said: ‘Farouk’s entire life is staying at home. There is no socialising. There is no going to public places.
‘As a close family member, I’ve known Farouk his entire life and I talk to him almost every day. Nobody comes there. He doesn’t really have any friends. He’s got, I think, like one guard, sometimes two. That’s basically his friends.
‘Everything is brought into the house. Delivered or picked up. But he’s got a patio. It’s mostly just a place to get a little bit of sun and air.
‘Other than that, he’s got his computer and his movies. He spends his life on the internet.’
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What is Farouk Adbulhak doing now and has the case developed?
In 2014, in a blow to attempts to bring him back to Britain, the Evening Standard reported that Farouk had wed in Yemen.
His nuptials, to a Yemeni woman whose name is not known, were held in February in a secret location in Sana’a, the nation’s capital.
It was believed his late father had previously tried unsuccessfully twice to arrange a marriage.
Martine’s family said at the time that they feared the marriage makes it even less likely he will be forced to come back to the UK.Â
Father Lost Faith in Justice
The student’s devastated father said in December 2023 that he has lost faith in the authorities after prosecutors opted not to charge a woman suspected of assisting her alleged killer.
Police arrested a woman in her sixties in March 2022 on suspicion of assisting an offender, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) told Ms Magnussen’s father, Odd Petter Magnussen, that she will not face further action.
Mr Magnussen, who has campaigned ceaselessly for justice for his daughter, has hit out at prosecutors, saying he is ‘struggling to understand’ why the decision has been made not to pursue charges.
A spokesperson for the Met said in December 2023: ‘It remains the case that our collective ambition is to see Farouk Abdulhak stand trial for Martine’s murder and we will continue to do everything we can to see that this is achieved.’
‘Whilst I respect the decisions of the British authorities, I am struggling to understand why this is the outcome with not enough information to help me make sense of it,’ he told The Times.
‘This current dislocation between me and the investigation team could all be down to personalities but it has left me with feeling that I now lack confidence in the police investigation and their intention to keep fighting for a resolution in this case.’
Ms Vik Magnussen’s father, Odd Petter Magnussen, has also branded Abdulhak a coward and appealed for him to return, adding: ‘You cannot hide forever.’
Speaking to the BBC, he said he was ‘furious’ at Abdulhak’s suggestion that Ms Vik Magnussen died in a consensual sex act.
‘He tried to portray it as a mutual accidental outcome of a sex act. It was definitely a sex act, but it was forced on Martine – as I can understand through the information I’ve gathered over the years,’ he said.
