Ruthless monsters
Sadistic pair will die in jail for torture and murder of mum of 2
TWO men who tortured and killed a mother of two in a ‘sadistic, cold-blooded and callous’ attack must spend the rest of their lives in jail, a judge has ruled.
Stephen Unwin, 40, and William John McFall, 51, had met in prison after each murdering a pensioner in separate burglaries.
After their release, they subjected 28-year- old Quyen Ngoc Nguyen, to a ‘terrifying’ ordeal before leaving her in her car and setting it alight.
Handing both men whole-life sentences yesterday, Mr Justice Morris condemned Unwin as a ‘calculating, manipulative and ruthless killer’ and said McFall was an ‘extremely violent man, capable of monstrous behaviour’. McFall shouted from the dock: ‘That’s your personal opinion.’
In a victim impact statement, Miss Nguyen’s sister Quynh Ngoc Nguyen said: ‘They did not act like human beings. They are evil.’
Both men were convicted of the murder last month after a trial at Newcastle Crown Court. Unwin was also found guilty of rape.
Miss Nguyen, who ran a nail bar, was lured to Unwin’s house and endured four hours of ‘great physical and mental suffering’, the judge said.
She was raped, assaulted and asphyxiated with ‘a pillow or plastic bag’ and injected with whisky.
The mother was subjected to ‘degrading’ treatment with a toy lightsaber and starting gun before being put in her Audi A3 and driven to an allotment, where the car was set on fire. A pathologist said she was likely to have been still alive as the flames took hold.
McFall interrupted the judge as he was being sentenced, shouting, ‘You weren’t f****** there’ and, ‘I never murdered anyone’. Unwin also called out: ‘I never killed no one.’ Each man blamed the other.
Only 61 UK prisoners are deemed so dangerous they must die in jail, Ministry of Justice figures show. They include Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Rose West.
Miss Nguyen came to Britain in 2010 from Vietnam and studied business at the London College of Commerce, before moving to Birmingham and then Newcastle.
Her sister followed with her family, and they lived together. The victim helped find homes for fellow Vietnamese immigrants – which led to her meeting Unwin, who ran a property maintenance business. McFall worked with him.
But Mr Justice Morris said the men also had a ‘criminal enterprise involving stealing highly valuable cannabis crops, the use of violence and attempts to procure guns’.
When police examined the men’s phones after their arrests, they found McFall had made a chilling video of himself caressing a firearm and declaring: ‘This is what you want … one of these f***ers.’
He sent the video to Unwin in March last year. Both men had been released on life licence after 14 years in prison for murder.
In 1998, Unwin bludgeoned and stabbed 73-year-old John Greenwell, a terminally-ill retired pharmacist, in his bed, before setting fire to his bungalow in Houghtonle-Spring, County Durham.
McFall murdered Martha Gilmore, 86, with a hammer while burgling her home in County Antrim, in 1996. He had robbery, arson and firearms convictions.
After the men were found guilty last month, former home secretary Lord Blunkett said it ‘ beggars belief’ that they were able to meet up outside jail and kill again. Miss Nguyen’s sister said Britain had been ‘too kind’ in freeing them.
Mr Justice Morris said the murder ‘involved sexual motivation and sadistic conduct’. Miss Nguyen was held captive on August 14 last year after being lured to Unwin’s home in Houghton-le-Spring on the pretext of viewing a property. McFall sent Unwin a text saying: ‘We raping the Chink xxx.’
The judge said: ‘It is not possible for any of us to imagine the horrific ordeal to which she was subjected over a number of hours … but terrifying it most certainly was.’
He said the men ‘casually cooked and ate a curry’ as her life was ‘ebbing away’. They also stole her bank cards and withdrew money.
Minutes after leaving her in the car, McFall, who lived in Blackpool but was staying with Unwin, took a ‘selfie of the two of them looking relaxed’. The judge said they were ‘chillingly devoid of any human empathy’ and had killed ‘in a coldblooded and callous manner’.
A source close to the case called the pair ‘pitiless psychopaths’.