Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
VICTIM
‘Midsomer Murder ‘ suspect tells Mirror death of gran was an accident and he raided £1.6m house in search of money
his flat in Dej, about an hour from Cluj. And he can be heard saying to police: “I tell you honestly I did not mean to hurt her. It was an accident.
“Somebody asked me to get into the house. It was about money.” Valerie was house sitting at the mansion with sister Jan, her partner Nigel Acres and mum Eileen while the owner holidayed abroad.
Police carried out one of the biggest voluntary mass DNA screenings ever. They took 2,819 samples from males over 17 who visited, lived or worked in the village, used
MAKES CONFESSION TO MIRROR
in filming for ITV drama Midsomer Murders. Sabou’s lawyer Cristina Radu said the suspect had been working nearby at the time of the killing.
The breakthrough came when his ex-wife contacted Valerie’s family last year. She told them he had confessed to killing the mum-of-two.
Detectives from the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team were in court yesterday, and remain in Romania working with authorities.
The judge agreed Sabou should return to Britain to face justice but he must serve any sentence in his home country.
Arrangements were being made for him to be returned to Britain in the next 10 days. A Sussex Police spokesman said last night: “He will then appear before a magistrates court before being sent for crown court trial.”
Sabou’s girlfriend, Gabriela Granti, told how she was “absolutely shocked” when she found out he was being arrested on suspicion of murder.
The 41-year-old said: “He didn’t seem the kind of person who would kill someone. I can’t believe he would. I can’t say anything bad about him.”