Window Cleaner Jailed

Alexander Toth, a window cleaner tried to murder his wife with a claw hammer & knives.

Window cleaner jailed for 17 years for attempting to murder his wife in Torquay street attack: A vengeful husband from Torquay who planned a murderous revenge attack on his wife after they split up has been jailed for 17 years. Window cleaner, Alexander Toth, 45, stabbed his estranged wife Brigitta, 41, in the back three times and bludgeoned her over the head with a hammer during an ambush as she walked to work along the street in St Marychurch in March.

A judge at Exeter Crown Court, who today sentenced Toth for the attempted murder of his wife, said the defendant had not been able to accept their 21-year marriage was over. He said: "You came to the conclusion that you would revenge the wrong you perceived she had done to you. And you would revenge that wrong by killing her." Residents in Hartop Road described being woken shortly before 6am on March 23 by the sounds of a woman shouting for help.

When police arrived they were confronted with the mum-of-two lying on the road outside St Marychurch Primary School covered in blood. Her husband, who had attacked her with two knives and a claw hammer, was sat nearby threatening to kill himself. The victim suffered severe life-changing injuries as a result of the attack and is still receiving treatment in hospital in Plymouth.

Judge Cottle said a psychiatrist's report on Toth found he had 'become obsessed with revenge and planned for some time to kill her.' The judge added: "You had carried out a considerable amount of research on the internet in order to obtain information dealing with broken marriages and you had accessed sites that encouraged you to take revenge. "It was the process of revenge that drove you to do what you did."

The court was told Brigitta was walking to work at Sainsbury's. She was within a few streets of meeting her daughter Pamela, who also worked at the supermarket, and the pair were speaking on the phone at the time of the attack. Judge Cottle said: "You chose your moment when your wife was walking to her place of work at a nearby supermarket and in the early hours of the morning you had planned to attack her as she walked there alone. And in order to carry out that attack you had armed yourself with a claw hammer and two knives. 

"You came up from behind her and you attacked her from behind, stabbing her in the back three times and hitting her on the head with the claw hammer. In so doing you caused her terrible injuries." He said the victim sustained several fractures of her skull together with bleeding to the brain and needed surgery as a result. The court was told she still requires psychological and physiological treatment at the neuro-rehabilitation unit of Mount Gould Hospital Plymouth. She also struggles with her language, vision, sense of smell and taste.

Her daughter said she felt 'broken' by the attack. She said her mother was her best friend but now she sometimes forgot her name. "As a result of this attack she has suffered permanent and severe disability," said the judge. "There is significant impairment to her ability to work, to interact socially and her ability to lead a fully engaged life." He said the couple's two children, aged 20 and 16, had been left with the 'awesome responsibility' of caring for their mother 'in consequence of your murderous attack.'

The judge said if Toth had succeeded in killing his wife he would have been jailed for at least 25 years. But because he 'failed in his mission' the starting point was 23 years, minus seven for an early guilty plea. Toth was told he will serve half of that in jail before being released on licence. Detective Sergeant Chris Rooney of the Major Crime Investigation Team said after the sentence: “Toth's guilty plea will prevent the members of the family having to attend a trial and relive those horrific events, and we welcome the courts sentence.

“The Major Crime Investigation Team conducted a thorough investigation and if it wasn't for the actions of the local community, police officers at the scene, paramedics and the medical teams who provided excellent medical care to his victim, Brigitta, this could easily have been a murder investigation. “I thank everyone who assisted and supported the Police in this investigation including the family who have acted with dignity throughout, and we wish Brigitta well for her continued recovery."

Following the guilty plea on Thursday, prosecutor Rachel Drake said the couple had separated several months before but Toth had then learned Brigitta had a new partner. It was her usual practice to speak to meet her daughter, Pamela, on the way. "Suddenly the phone went dead," said Ms Drake. 'There were no shouts, no crying, nothing."

In the aftermath of the attack both the victim and her husband were taken to hospital. Toth's injuries, inflicted on himself with a knife at the scene, were not as severe as his wife's, the court heard. Doctors assessed him and found he was not suffering from a mental illness at the time. However during the assessment he said he was 'constantly looking things up on the internet and the truth is I wanted to kill her and myself'.

Barry White, mitigating, said Toth was deeply remorseful for his actions. He said the defendant led a quiet, 'small life' with few friends and when the marriage broke down had no emotional outlet or person to talk to. "He is a quiet and unassuming man who lost it and did something terrible and will never do anything like it again," said Mr White. He said Toth worked 55 hours a week as a window cleaner and at a supermarket in Paignton.

Death Of Window Washer Netanel Arami Was An Act Of Terror

Court lifts gag order, reveals Netanel Arami was murdered by Arabs for 'nationalistic reasons'; family furious over cover-up.

Death of Window Washer Netanel Arami was an Act of Terror - Due to the tenacity of the family, police have agreed to announce that the death of high-rise window washer Netanel Arami HY”D, 27, was a terror attack as they claimed all along. After the young man’s death police were quick to label his death an accident but the insistence of the family compelled an investigation which led them to learn an Arab tampered with Arami’s rappelling equipment, resulting in his fall from the 11th floor.

Police on Wednesday 4 Kislev announced three Arabs are in custody. Israel Police is announcing that the case is closed and the final determination is the death was an act of terrorism. The family will now receive benefits and rights given to bereaved families.

The family was represented by Honenu, taking the case to the Petach Tikvah Magistrate Court which on Wednesday morning ordered lifting the gag order on the case, overriding police objections. Justice Merav Greenberg permitted reporting the ISA (Israel Security Agency – Shin Bet) has three Arabs in custody who are connected to the attack involving sabotaging his equipment.

Court lifts gag order, reveals Netanel Arami was murdered by Arabs for ‘nationalistic reasons'; family furious over cover-up. In a dramatic turn of events Petah Tikva’s Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning lifted a gag order over the murder of Jewish construction worker Netanel Arami – revealing that his murder was indeed an Arab terrorist attack.

Arami’s family have  long insisted that his death was an act of murder by one or more of his Arab colleagues after he fell from a Petah Tikva construction site – apparently after his ropes were cut as he rappelled from the eleventh floor. The Arami family have led a hard-fought campaign for police to make public details of their investigation, and just yesterday petitioned the court to lift the gag order.

Initial reports claimed that when police arrived on the roof of the Petah Tikva building Arami fell from they found his ropes cut and Arab workers laughing, but police and other officials have remained tight-lipped on details of their investigation ever since. Police inaction and repeated allegations of a cover-up have sparked public outcry and protests.

Judge Merav Greenberg released for publication the fact that following Arami’s murder police arrested and interrogated three Arab suspects “under suspicion that they were involved with causing his death for nationalistic motives.” The three were released from police custody after a lengthy interrogation, as “no legal justification was found” to keep them detained while the investigation is still ongoing. The court also released for publication the fact that Arami’s family received a document from police confirming that they qualified as family of a “victim of terror.”

Arami’s mother Miriam – who last month accused authorities of leading a cover-up over the affair – responded to the court’s decision with both a sense of vindication and frustration. “It is important to us that they publicized the matter so that everyone should know the truth, and know that Netanel went to work and didn’t come but, but was murdered because he was a Jew,” she said. “All the silencing of people and attempts to cover-up did not succeed.” “With the help of God, we promised Netanel two weeks ago when we visited him at the cemetery on his birthday, that we will not rest and will not be silent until the murderers are found,” she said.

But the grieving mother could not contain her anger at the muted reaction of government officials to her son’s murder. “We are angry at the fact that not a single government official such as the President or Prime Minister have come to comfort us, and didn’t even offer condolences over the telephone.”

“Abu Khdeir everyone mourned,” she noted, referring to the Arab teenager murdered during the summer by Jewish extremists – an attack which drew sharp condemnations and an outpouring of support for the Abu Khdeir family by Israeli officials. “Apparently for them he is more precious than the blood of my son.”

Attorney Hur Uriel Nizri of the legal rights group Honenu, who has represented the Arami family in their campaign to lift the gag order, hailed the court’s decision. “It is important to say that until now no public or government officials have made contact with the family, despite the fact that the matter was known and clear (to all). “As such, we call on the President, who knows how to go visit victims of other kinds of violence should come and comfort the family… Netanel Arami was killed because he was a Jew.”

“I thank the court for its decision and we call on the various government authorities to come and do their jobs. We call on the Shabak (Israel Security Agency) and to the police to continue to investigate and carry out the required investigative duties,” he continued. Despite that, however, Nizri added that he and the family were “pained” at the fact that it took a long and difficult legal campaign just to reveal the truth about the affair.

Original story here

Ropes Of Window Washer Netanel Arami Intentionally Cut

Authorities believe Palestinian workers may have cut rope of Netanel Arami, who was hanging by the 11th floor of a building, sending him to his death.

Police suspect man who fell to death was murdered: Investigation shows that ropes holding window washer Netanel Arami were intentionally cut • Police looking into possible nationalistic motives • Family accuses authorities of covering up motive for murder, calls protest march in Bat Yam.

A window washer who fell to his death from the 11th floor of a Petach Tikva building at a construction site two weeks ago was murdered, police announced on Tuesday. They said the ropes that had secured Netanel Roei Arami, 26, to the building had been cut intentionally, possibly out of nationalistic motives.

Arami had been strapped into rappeling equipment while at work washing the windows. Initial investigations and evidence from Arami's workmates indicated that he had been working carefully, as he always did. The team of window washers had rappeled off the roof, and when their work was done, lowered themselves all the way down. When Arami's workmates did not see him on the ropes, they searched the area and were shocked to discover him on the ground.

The workers called an ambulance and the Petach Tikva police, who opened an investigation that was later handed off to the Shin Bet security agency.  Since the incident, Arami's family has been angry at the police and their alleged obfuscation of what took place. On Tuesday, Arami's parents and pregnant widow, Moriah, convened a press conference. The couple's two children -- Avia, 4, and Itai, 2 -- were also there.

"We knew from the beginning this was murder, because he was a professional. The fact that he was murdered because he was Jewish leads us to demand that the killers be brought to justice," said Arami's mother, Miriam. "The government needs to draw the right conclusions about how to treat terrorists. I am pleading that Netanel be the last victim. If the punishment isn't harsh enough, I'm afraid it won't be enough. All this whitewashing won't help," she said.

Arami's parents, Uziel and Miriam, and his widow, Moriah.

Uziel Arami, Netanel's father, said, "The loss of my son Netanel is the public's loss. Every day [terrorists] slam us. We weep for what God took from us and want Netanel to be the last victim of the Jewish people. Our strength is in unity. So we are asking the public's and media's help in bringing the truth to light."

Uziel said the family would hold a protest walk Wednesday evening from Yoseftal Street in Bat Yam toward the local police station. Moriah Arami described her late husband as "an amazing father. A man with no enemies … a full partner. A devoted father. A working man who left every day to make a living. An amazing husband."

The family's attorney, from the Honenu National Legal Defense Organization, Hori Nizori, said: "Two weeks ago, Netanel Arami was murdered, and since then welfare authorities have not contacted the family. … Only after two weeks of pressure from us and from MK Moshe Feiglin, did the police agree to partially lift the gag order [on the case] and admit that they are looking into possible nationalistic motives for the murder."

Feiglin said at the press conference that "whenever it's possible to turn a blind eye and stick their head in the sand, the police and the establishment does so, because it's apparently convenient, or because they are afraid of protests. There was pro-Hamas and pro-Islamic State graffiti on the building. Stones from the building were found in nearby playgrounds."

The police have not responded to the family's statements. According to the police, an investigative team has met with the Arami family no fewer than four times, including on Monday with the head detective. The police also said the family knew about the gag order and had received an update when it was partially lifted, and that some 20 minutes after the incident took place, Arami's brother arrived and said that he wanted to notify the rest of the family himself. 

A police source said, "All possibilities are being investigated. It is still unclear if this was nationalistically motivated. There have been no arrests thus far, and the investigation is ongoing and intensive." 'My son was murdered because he was Jewish'. Mother of Netanel Arami, who was killed 2 weeks ago after falling off the 11th floor of a building, criticizes authorities for mishandling the family, calls for capture of perpetrators.

“He told me several times that he was afraid that the Arabs at the construction site would try to kill him by cutting the cables,” his wife, Moria.

Police suspect murder in construction worker’s death: Family of Netanel Arami, who died in a fall two weeks ago, accuses authorities of covering up facts to keep public calm. Police lifted a gag order Tuesday on an investigation into the death of an Israeli construction worker who died in a fall at a building site in Petah Tikvah, confirming that he may have been murdered.

Following the death of Netanel Arami, 27, two weeks ago, in what police initially said was an accidental fall — both the cables he was using to rappel down the face of a building snapped — his family lobbied for police to investigate the possibility that he was murdered. “He told me several times that he was afraid that the Arabs at the construction site would try to kill him by cutting the cables,” his wife, Moria, said, according to Israeli news site NRG.

Arami’s brother, Ohad, said that his brother was a professional with many years’ experience who always employed proper safety measures, and there was no chance the fall could have been an accident. “When they are working and rappelling from high up, they are attached to two cables so that if one snaps, there is a backup cable,” Ohad Arami said. “There is no way that both cables could snap at the same time unless somebody intentionally cut them.”

Last week, Arami’s widow went as far as accusing the police of attempting to cover up the circumstances of her husband’s death. “Maybe they didn’t have a suspect, but they knew what happened, and could’ve given [us] the details of the incident,” she told Channel 10. “They tried to cover things up, so there wouldn’t be an uprising, chaos and war.”

The building Netanel was working on.

"My son was murdered because he was Jewish, there's no other reason," said Miriam, the mother of Netanel Roi Arami, who fell to his death two weeks ago from the 11th floor of a building under construction in Petah Tikva. The Arami family held a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, after police suspicions the death was not an accident were made public earlier in the day. "I call on all government branches to put a stop to those who slaughter us. It's as if we're in a shooting range. No one knows who's next," she said, clarifying that the family "knew this was a murder and not a work accident from the get go."

Police suspects Netanel's murder was nationalistically motivated. Miriam urged for the capture and the execution of judgment of the perpetrators. "Let Netanel be the last victim. If there's no deterring punishment, this would not be the last case. All of these cover-ups won't help. The people are not stupid." Miriam also criticized the police's handling of the family. "They come to tell the family and they find a woman with a baby in her arms, and she collapses, but they ask her to come straight to the station so she could sign off on the autopsy. There's no emotional support from the police. They have to also show sensitivity," she said. "The people of Israel support us, and came to the shiva (Jewish 7 days of mourning), and continue supporting us. We don't get support from the government or any other authority. No one from welfare or the municipality came to visit us," Miriam charged.

Netanel's father, Rabbi Uziel Arami, also spoke at the press conference, saying his son was "not a private victim. He's a public victim that belongs to all Israelis. We see what's happening out there - one time it's an attack with a truck and another time with a tractor. Stones are thrown at kindergartens and there's graffiti in support of Hamas and ISIS. We don't want another victim like Netanel. I'm asking for the truth to be set free, and for things to not be covered up." Choking on tears and struggling to speak, Netanel's widow, Muriya, turned to the gathered reporters and asked: "My son is two years old and asking me where dad is. What do you tell a child that age? I tell him that dad's watching over us from the sky."

Netanel Arami with his wife and children.

Muriya, who is pregnant, said her late husband "had no enemies and he was loved by all. He was a full time father, an amazing husband, dedicated, who did everything. I don't know how my children could grow up without a father."

Attorney Hur Nizri from the organization Honenu, who is representing the family, said: "Two weeks ago Netanel Arami was murdered and until now welfare authorities have failed to contact the family. The family was abandoned and was not taken care of by the authorities, while at the same time it needs to bear the pain of a situation likes this - losing what is most precious to them. The family is determined to fight until the truth comes out, and we expect the police to keep the family updated on the progress of the investigation."

Netanel Arami, 26, owned a construction company contracted to do exterior work on a hi-rise building in central Israel. During the fatal day, Arami was rappelling along the side of the Petah Tikvah building in order to seal vent openings when both his cables snapped and he fell 11 stories to his death.

Over 50 workers were at the site of the time, the majority of which are Israel-Arabs and Palestinians, as well as a few Chinese nations, but none have been arrested. The workers, for their part, claim his death was an accident. During the investigation all were quested about their whereabouts and if they know anything about the suspected murder or who was behind it. Their stories were crosschecked and none were arrested. The police say the investigation continues and all investigation leads are being followed.

According to an initial investigation, Roi Arami left his home in Moshav Ahiezer, said goodbye to his pregnant wife and two children and proceeded to the site. There, he and a group of other rappellers worked on the side of the building, sealing the air ducts of the building's security rooms. The team had finished, but Roi Arami was still working. The crew worked their way down and waited in the car for his arrival. When he failed to show up they began to search for him and were horrified to see he was no longer on the building. A few minutes of additional searches led them to his lifeless body.

Most Notorious Window Cleaner - Murderer Jailed

For nine months Hazell, a window cleaner with a long criminal history, kept up a campaign of lies.

Tia Sharp trial: Stuart Hazell will serve at least 38 years for murder of schoolgirl - To shouts of “beast” from the public gallery and sobs from the family of his victim, Stuart Hazell was today jailed for a minimum of 38 years at the Old Bailey after he admitted the murder of Tia Sharp. A day after the 37-year-old window cleaner changed his plea in his trial for killing the 12-year-old he considered his granddaughter, he was told by a judge that he had breached the trust placed in him to look after Tia “in the most grievous way possible”.

But Mr Justice Nicol stopped short of imposing a whole life tariff on Hazell, which would have meant he joined around 30 murderers in Britain who must die in prison, because the judge said he could not be sure that Tia’s murder was sexually motivated and pre-meditated. During the trial it emerged that Tia’s body, which was missed by police during three searches of the loft of Hazell’s home, was so badly decomposed that a cause of death could not be established and evidence of sexual assault could not be ascertained. Members of the schoolgirl’s family leaving the central London court today shouted “nowhere near long enough” in reference to the sentence.

Deception: Window cleaner Stuart Hazell made a TV appearance where he begged for the safe return of Tia, despite having murdered her days earlier.

Hazell, a convicted drug dealer who had spent much of his childhood in care and claimed he had suffered sexual abuse, abruptly changed his plea on the fifth day of his trial, which had heard harrowing evidence, including details of a picture taken of Tia’s apparent corpse by the killer for his sexual gratification. The judge said he was certain that Hazell, who put on a grotesque display of concern for seven days last August as police searched for Tia while her corpse remained concealed in his home in south London, had taken a sexual interest in the schoolgirl and had committed a sexual assault.

It emerged that the alcoholic, who took pictures of Tia while she slept and images from his attack which he hid in his house, had searched the internet for pornographic material using terms including “violent forced rape”, “little girls in glasses” and “incest”. Mr Justice Nicol said: “There is no doubt that you had developed a sexual interest in Tia. The records of your internet searching on your mobile phone make abundantly clear that you were looking out for pornographic pictures of pre-teen girls.”

The court heard that Hazell, who will become eligible for parole when he is 75, was only being given “the most modest credit” for changing his plea before he was due to give evidence, noting that Tia’s family had had to endure days of harrowing evidence about the murder. Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola, the officer who led the investigation, said the sentence imposed on Hazell was “satisfying” for police and Tia’s family. Scotland Yard has previously apologised to relatives for the failure to find the schoolgirl’s body sooner. He said: “Hazell will have a very long time in prison to think about what he has done.”

Tia Sharp- the popular schoolgirl from Croydon murdered by her step-grandfather Stuart Hazell.

New Addington window cleaner, Stuart Hazell, 37, has been a jailed for life with a recommendation he serves at least 38 years at his Old Bailey sentencing hearing for murdering 12 year old Croydon schoolgirl Tia Sharp in August last year. Somebody cried “Beast” from the public gallery as he was quickly taken down to the cells. Mr Justice Nicol told him: “She was a sparky girl who was full of life but you took that life from her. All that lay ahead of her – a career, loves and family of her own – will now never be.

And the loss of her has been devastating for her mother, her father and all her relatives and friends.” “The tragedy of their loss and her death is because of your act in murdering Tia Sharp. You are responsible,” he added. The judge said he had to make a difficult assessment on whether he could be sure it was a sexually motivated murder. Pathologists could not be absolutely sure of the cause of her death and the judge needed to have evidence beyond reasonable doubt in order to impose a whole  life term. The scientific evidence was not definitive.

During the sentencing hearing the judge heard that Hazell had an insecure background, grew up in care, lived rough on the streets, and developed an addiction to alcohol in his early teens. The court heard he was a youth offender. He claimed he was the victim of rape in a Soho hostel at the age of 16. He has a history of depression, self harm and suicide bids. For most of his life he has been a petty criminal serving short periods in prison, though in 2003 he was sentenced to almost three years for dealing in cocaine.

Natalie Sharp, mother of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp, appearing on Daybreak and Stuart Hazell.

Tia Sharp's mother wants to visit Stuart Hazell in prison: The mother of murdered schoolgirl Tia Sharp wants to visit Stuart Hazell in prison so she can ask why he killed her daughter, she has said. Hazell, 37, was jailed for life with a minimum of 38 years on Tuesday for killing the 12 year-old and hiding her body in the loft. He changed his plea to guilty on the fifth day of his trial at the Old Bailey on Monday, having forced Tia's family to sit through days of graphic evidence, including a picture of her taken after she died.

He had claimed Tia was killed in an accident when she fell down the stairs, but the court heard that the window cleaner sexually assaulted her before murdering her in the home he shared with her grandmother Christine Bicknell. Hazell had lived with Ms Bicknell in New Addington, south London, for more than five years before Tia died, and developed a sexual attraction for the schoolgirl who often stayed with them, and secretly filmed her while she was asleep.

Here is a timeline of Tia’s final hours and the days leading up to Hazell’s arrest.

August 1, 2012, 4pm: Tia texts Hazell: “Can I stay at your house all weekend?”

11.18pm: Hazell replies to Tia: “I will ask Nanny :)” August 2, 3.47pm: Hazell meets Tia in Croydon. They return to New Addington.

7.14pm: Christine Bicknell calls Hazell, hears Tia laugh.

10.12pm: Hazell texts Bicknell: “Tia going to bed after Family Guy baby but I’m going to pass out.”

11.44pm: Hazell texts Bicknell: “Night night baby.”

August 3, 12.48am: Last use of Tia’s phone, connecting to GPRS.

3am to 6am: Hazell takes a picture of Tia’s naked, dead body, then hides her in the loft.

10.19am: Hazell texts Bicknell: “Morning baby just got up xx.”

2.30pm to 3pm: Bicknell arrives home. Hazell claims Tia went to Croydon to shop and will be back by 6pm.

7.50pm: Hazell and Bicknell start searching for Tia.

10pm: Tia is reported missing.

August 4: Police look in the loft but find nothing.

August 5, 5am: Police search loft for 20 minutes. Bin bags are seen but not checked.

11.42am: Hazell texts his boss — who had texted him earlier — saying: “This is a f***ing nightmare.”

August 7: The Sun offers a £25,000 reward.

August 8: Hazell is voluntarily questioned by police and insists that Tia left the house alive.

1.44pm: Hazell texts his boss: “They are making me look like Jack the Ripper.”

August 10: Hazell leaves home early prior to a search of the house. He leaves note saying: “Went for a walk.”

3.20pm: Police search the loft, pulling away part of a bin bag to expose a foot.

7pm: Hazell is arrested in Merton after being seen stumbling around crying.

August 11: Hazell is charged with murder.

Stuart Hazell told his boss the media were making him look like “Jack the Ripper”. The jury were told that the window cleaner exchanged a series of text messages with Adrian Van Aalst after he failed to turn up to work on August 3. Mr Van Aalst, who ran AVA Windows and sublet some of his work to Hazell, described his employee as “polite, friendly and well presented”.

He added that Hazell was “not the sharpest tool in the box” and had the ability to change version of events. In February 2012, Hazell told Van Aalst that his father had died of a heart attack. He went into “great detail”, breaking down in tears while on the job and taking time off work. Mr Van Aalst later read a newspaper interview with Hazell’s father following Tia’s disappearance. “If this was not true and his father is not dead, I would say he is a fantastic liar,” said Mr Van Aalst in a statement read to the jury.

Hazell was supposed to be working on August 3. His boss sent a text asking if he was okay but received no reply. The following morning he asked if Hazell was “calling it a day”. Hazell replied: “Sorry mate but my granddaughter is missing. We reported it to the police. She is 12 years old. We have been scouring the parks. It’s on the critical list. It’s all over Facebook and Twitter.” While the search for Tia focused on New Addington, and the pressure grew on Hazell, he appeared to contradict himself.

He told Mr Van Aalst that Tia had gone missing at midday on August 3. His boss replied: “What happened to you with work in the morning?” “Stuart started to stutter, he was very hesitant, there was a lot of umming,” said Mr Van Aalst. “He went on to say he had his granddaughter and was mumbling away.”

On August 5, with the media camped outside the house, he texted: “Still no news. This is a ******* nightmare come true. Didn’t even think this would or even could happen.” Three days later he messaged Mr Van Aalst again: “Bastards are getting everything wrong, they are making me look like Jack the Ripper.” He added: “Hand on heart mate, I don’t know where she is. I wish I did. This is madness. I had nothing to do with it.” Hazell told his partner Christine Bicknell, Tia's grandmother, he could not go to work on August 3 because his colleague's car was broken. Mr Aalst said there had been nothing wrong with the vehicle.

Also see most hated window cleaner in the UK.

Window Cleaning Business Owner Slain

Bill Dobbs was brutally tortured & murdered in California in 2007.

William Dobbs murder: Three convicted in California of killing Tsawwassen businessman: A California jury has convicted three people of murder in connection with the 2007 slaying of Tsawwassen businessman William Dobbs. Jackie Lynn Dunson, 35, Fernando Antonio Benavidez and Ronald Wesley Handwerk were tried in Riverside Superior Court. The jury reportedly took about 90 minutes to decide on the verdict. The three are expected to be sentenced on June 22. Robert Lee Dunson, 30, and Rogelio Leon Zuniga still face murder charges in the case. Their next court appearance is scheduled for May 25. “Yes, we did get some justice here,” Toni Dawson, Dobbs’ longtime partner, said in a telephone interview Monday from Indio. “I’m still on Cloud 9 with the news.”

Dawson sat through the 10-day trial, listening to the events that led up to Dobbs’s death on Nov. 27, 2007. The couple were vacationing at a home they owned in Indio and planned to head back to Canada in a couple of days. Dobbs told Dawson he was going to the casino for the evening. It was at the Spotlight 29 Casino in Coachella that Dobbs met Benavidez. He took Dobbs to Jackie Dunson’s apartment around 4 a.m., where Dobbs was reportedly expecting to pay for sex. At the apartment Robert Dunson, Jackie’s brother, and Handwerk allegedly beat Dobbs severely — his ribs were broken, internal organs were ruptured and his face was unrecognizable — for his debit card and PIN. A plastic bag was placed on Dobbs’s head.

Witnesses said Dobbs was pleading for his life. “It was awful. He was tortured very, very badly,” Dawson said. “They were using him like a pinata. They did all sorts of horrible things to him.” Jackie Dunson and Handwerk drove Dobbs’s vehicle to a bank to withdraw cash. The transaction was caught on surveillance video. The card was used a number of other times. It is alleged that Robert Dunson and Zuniga put Dobbs into the back of his own SUV and drove him to a remote area of Indio. Dobbs’s neck was slashed 14 times, almost decapitating him. Dobbs’s body was found by the side of the road the next day. His SUV was found abandoned a week later a block from Jackie Dunson’s home. There were traces of blood inside.

“What they did to Billy is just so sick and wrong every way you look at it,” Dawson said. “This is just horrific torture.” Dawson said she had to leave the courtroom a number of times during the trial — in particular to avoid seeing the autopsy photos. “I was told not to look at the autopsy pictures, not to remember him like that,” she said.

When asked about the circumstances that led to Dobbs being in Jackie Dunson’s apartment, Dawson said the idea that Dobbs was buying sex “is just a bunch of crap.” She said Dobbs had likely been drinking and was very trusting. “That’s kind of irrelevant to me how he got there,” she added. The deputy district attorney is planning to seek the death penalty for Robert Dunson, if he is convicted, Dawson said. Life without parole will likely be sought for the other defendants. “I can’t even say what an excellent job he did,” Dawson said of Deputy District Attorney Christopher Ross. “After it’s said and done they’ve just been exceptional. I couldn’t have had a better team on down here.”

In Vancouver, Dobbs ran a window cleaning and janitorial service called Excelsior Buildings Maintenance, which had been in the family since 1910. “Everybody loved Billy,” Dawson said. “When this happened, it affected so many people’s lives.” Dawson and Dobbs met when they were five years old and dated in high school. They reunited about 12 years before Dobbs died and were inseparable. She described him as easygoing and happy. Dawson said Dobbs always had a smile on his face. “He was very, very likable,” she said. “Billy was so loved that I know people would want to know there was some justice.”

Son Slays Window Cleaning Father

BRISTOL MAN 'KILLED HIS DAD AFTER ROW.'
A Bristol man cut his father's throat after being taunted as a paedophile for having a 14-year-old girlfriend, a court heard. Billy Hunter, aged 21, launched the sustained knife attack on 47-year-old Ian Hunter after a row at the older man's maisonette at Brandon House in Hotwells, Bristol Crown Court was told yesterday. A jury heard the window cleaner suffered 31 cuts, 25 to his head, neck and shoulders, one of which completely severed an artery in his neck. Billy Hunter, of Highbury Road, in Bedminster, denies murder in November last year. Peter Blair, QC, prosecuting, told the court Hunter was staying temporarily with his father. Mr Blair said tenant Anthony Warrener had gone to bed but woken up at 3am to use the toilet. Mr Blair said when Mr Warrener crossed the landing, he noticed a light had been left on downstairs and went to turn it off. "When he went downstairs, he saw Ian Hunter lying on the living-room floor with what appeared to be his throat slashed," Mr Blair said. Mr Blair said police later pieced together what had happened.

Window Cleaner Kills Other

Mark Robey stood on Fred Tucker’s kitchen counter last fall with his shoes drenched in Tucker’s blood, leaving behind the bloody footprints that lead to his arrest. Tucker’s girlfriend said Robey was looking for cash – the reason he brutally stabbed Tucker, 58, to death – to fuel his drug habit. Robey, 40, pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder. In addition to being neighbors, Tucker also employed Robey in his window-washing business. Robey also fathered of two of Tucker’s grandchildren.