Verdict and Sentencing

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Easy Create your own AI agent today on Monday. com In september twenty twenty two in a quiet part of West London A thirty five year old woman called Shakira Spencer was living her life in a small flat in Hanwell To most people around her, nothing seemed especially out of the ordinary. to her seself, had her own routine andlike many others in the area, we're just getting on with things day by day But as the weeks went by, something fell off. Neighbors began to notice she hadn't been seen for a while. Messages went unanswered Then came a smell from her flat Something that couldn't be ignored police finally forced entry into her home What they found inside would uncover a story that was almost impossible to comprehend This was something far more disturbing than they could ever have imagined. something that had been building over a long period of time In this episode of British Murders with Stuart Blues, I'm taking a look at the abuse, torture and murder of Shakira Spencer It's a case that shocked even seasoned investigators raise serious questions about vulnerability, control and missed warning signs and exposed a level of cruelty that's difficult to put into words Quick one before we dive in, please make sure you're following British murders on your podcast playlayer of choice or subscribe over on YouTube if you're watching there It's a small action, doesn't cost you a penny, but it does help the show reach a much wider audience Ratings and reviews are always appreciated, thanks for those. And if you want to go a step further, you can listen ad free a day early and gain access to exclusive content not available on the main feed. Just head to patreon. com forward slash British Murders I don't often give content warnings on this podcast anymore They used to be embedded within my intro But given this is a true crime podcast, I realized it sort of comes with the territory So I got rid of it. In this case, I'm about to discuss however I feel it does warrant one Because the story I'm about to share with you involves a prolonged period of abuse, both physical and mental It was carried out by multiple people, a trio of heinous collaborators ended in the death of an extremely vulnerable woman Some of the details will be difficult for you to hear, so just bear that in mind as we progress through the episode With that clarified, let's begin by talking about the person at the heart of this story Shakira Spencer Shiakiri was thirty five years old during our men timeline, having been born on june thirteenth, nineteen eighty seven Other than a date of birth, something which is often lacking in the cases I cover Information about Shakira's background and who she was before she was killed is quite limited. It's frustratingly common in cases such as hers But there are a few really important things that we do know By around twenty nineteen, she was living in a place called Hanwell, which is in West London If you've never heard of Hanwell, it's a town located within the London borough of Ealing And according to the Ealing Council website Canwell is a hidden gem It's got some beautiful green areas west of Greenford Avenue with a rural feel There's a wide variety of properties throughout the town, which makes it a rather unique place to live And for the outdoorsy types, it's apparently got some cracking canal walks as well as plenty of open spaces for cyclists It's an international place full of different cultures and cuisines The restaurants are the perfect example of this. There's Persian, Nepalese, Indian, and even Caribbean cuisine on topap. It's one of them areas that's a bit quieter than central London It's more residential, basically. I've not been, but this is what I gathered from my online research There pllenty of parks where families go to spend time with their kids and just crack on with their daily lives As for Shakira, she lived at flat number nine at Lambeth House, which is located on Halbeck Road And from what I could gather, that was her home for the last few years of her life She was also a mum of two, which is always heartbreaking to hear when researching the background of someone that's been murdered I just think of those poor kids losing their mum in such horrific circumstances It's worth pointing out here that at some point before our main timeline, both of Shakira's children had been taken into care by social services Now there's no public details around why that decision was made, nor does it state how old the children were at the time And to be honest, that's not something I'm going to be digging into That were a private part of her and their lives. And it doesn't define who she was as a person The people who knew Shiakira paint a very different picture from one you might have in your head when you hear about children being taken into care. They described her as a beautiful and happy mum someomeone who cared deeply, loved uncontrollably. and was besotted with her children Her family and friends said she had a kind nature And above all else, she was trusting beyond belief And that word Trust comes up a lot when people speak about her. Her mum described Shakira as a caring and sweet natured person who always wanted to go out of a way to please other people Selfless is the word that sprang to my mind So long as she kept other people happy, her own needs could take a back seat But as we've seen so many times before, kind of personality can and often is taken advantage of. In Shakira's case, it would be no different trust in nature would sadly end up putting her in the path of the very people who would go on to cause her unimaginable harm There's not much else to say about Shakira's background, so at this point it makes sense to head straight into the main timeline It all began on september twelfth, twenty twenty two 'cause that day was the last confirmed sight in of Shakira alive After that, those who spoke to her regularly, including her neighbourors, Never heard from her again There were no messages or calls, no friendly encounters in the common areas of the building in which she lived No one soa either coming or going Instead, it was as if she'd disappeared off the face of the earth without so much as a goodbye. And at first, that might not seem unusual People are allowed to keep themselves to themselves, especially in a place like London And as friendly as we all are with our neighbours, some of us more than others, I'm sure I reckon a good majority of us wouldn't even tell them if we plann to upsticks and move. But as the days went on, that lack of contact with Shakira started to feel wrong. The story then jumps ahead just short of two weeks to Sunday september twenty fifth One of her neighbors, someone who hadd actually known Shakira for around ten years start to grow really concerned given the radio silence from her These two weren't just acquaintances or proverbial ships passing in the night. This was someone who knew what Shakir was like, knew her routines and her gotut feeling I told us something was off She made the bold decision to phone the police and let them know she hadn't heard from Shakira at all in a fortnight, which was most unlike her And perhaps more worryingly, she'd noticed a change in her behavior at the time leading up to her disappearance She said Shakira had lost a significant amount of weight and just didn't seem like her usual cheery self. The neighbour hoped she was overreacting, of that I'm sure. But it's a good job she made that call when she did. Because had she not Who's to say the people responsible for what happened to Shiakira would have been caught as quickly or at allll But the thing that really set alarm bells ringing for that neighbor was the smell emanating from flat number nine It was strong and unpleasant. A smell she couldn't quite recognize There are even some report to suggest Shakira's neighbors had seen maggots appearing from inside the property which gives a dark insight into just how far things had gotten by that point if that reporting is accurate At Around four thirty eight PM that afternoon was still on september twenty fifth The emergency services were summoned by that neighbor who was so close to Shakira They then arrived at a flat around five PM Their knocks went unanswered So, given the circumstances, they didn't hang about and quickly forced Entry into the flat What greeted them was a scene of pure horror Inside, they found the badly decomposed body of Shiakira who was shortly after pronounced dead at the scene. When a subsequent inquest was held on october seventh, twenty twenty two, that was at West London Coroners's Court Detective Inspector James Masseay from the Metropolitan Police went into more detail about what the attending officers had walked into that late afternoon Shakira's body was found on a bottom bunk bed in what was described as a child bedroom. Perhaps it was a room she kept exactly as it had been when they were living with her. a happy place which had now suddenly been tainted The condition her body was in was so severe that she couldn't be formally identified in the usual ways. to be done through her dental records following a postmortem dental examination carried out by Dr. Philip Marsdeen That alone gives you an idea of how long she'd been left there, all alone in the place she called home As officers and later forensic teams looked around inside the flat, there were some really strange findings. Incense had been placed in the room where a body was found almost as if someone, perhaps a killer, had tried to mask the smell. And there was dirty cutlery left out, but it hadn't gone mldy yet which suggested someone had been in that flat not long before her body had been discovered Think about that for a sec Shakira's body will have been inside that property for a couple of weeks. Yet still, someone appeared to have popped aroundound Worse still, they'd made some food and eaten it, all while Shakira's body lay on one of her children's bunk beds Continuing their examination, forensic teams found blood spatter on the walls, as well as a significant amount of blood inside a cupboard Blood samples recovered from the flat were later confirmed via DNA testing to be Shakirass There were also bloodstains on a doorway, which again belonged to Shakira So even though the state of her body meant that confirming a cause of death would be extremely difficult The scene itself painted a grim picture as to what had happened to her This was far from a natural death Something violent at happened here. And as detectives started to piece things together It became clear that Shakira hadn't just died there She'd suffered immensely The next step was for the police to launch a murder investigation, which they did incredibly quickly And by the very next morning in the early hours, no less Three separate arrests were made in connection to Shakira's death A twenty five year old man called Sean Pendlebgh and two women thirty seven year old Ashana Studoodhome and forty three year old Lisa Richardson were taken into custody for questioning All of them were local to the area. And as it would turn out, they were closely tied to what had been going on inside that flat And this next detail, if true, is hard to wrap your head around. Aple of sources suggested that Stoodholm was pregnant at the time That really is mind blowing if accurate Regardless of if she was or wasn't at that time, Stoodholm was already a mum of four. which only serves to add another layer to this truly shocking case. Just a few days after their arrests on the evening of Thursday september twenty ninth, all three were formally charged with Shakira's murder. That's a hell of a jump from an arrest made hours after the discovery of a body So the detectives clearly had enough evidence to formally charge all three so soon They were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' courourt the following day Well they weren't the only ones being looked at by the police A forty year old man and a seventy eight year old woman were also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender However, Both were later bailed while further inquiries were carried out The extent of their involvement is not made clear. But as far as that seventy eight year old woman goes, keep her in your mind because there's a bit more to add, which I'll come onto shortly As the investigation continued, DCI Brian Howe, who led it, put out an appeal to the public He asked anyone who knew Shakira in any capacity to come forward Especially if they had any information about a movements between september ninth and september sixteenth Remember, she was last confirmed to have been seen alive on september twelfth So that narrow window of time became vital to the investigation Residents around Halbeck Road now had an unprecedented police presence in their area and a heavy one at that There were forensic teams, officers going in and out press were no doubt sniffing around at the edges of the crime scene as well The whole community was on edge and people were understandably worried Detective suuperintendent Sharon Brooks did her utmost to reassure the locals, telling them not to be alarmed, which was no a doubt easier said than done It was explained that this sort of reaction and police presence was normal when something so serious had happened How reassuring that was, I can't say. Behind the scenes at Osbridge Marchury, a special post martin was carried out by Dr. Ashley Fegan Earl That was on Wednesday, september twenty eighth The results of saidid postmortem gave a disturbing insight into what exactly Shakira had been put through by her killers to Fegan Earl found cutps to her scalp injuries to her feet which suggested she'd been scoalded and a crushing injury to her ear all of which were said to have contributed to her death Yet even after that examination had been carried out Shakira's provisional cause of death was still listed as unaccertained But when they heard about her injuries The detectives must have known this wasn't a single act of violence. This appeared to be a sustained and repeated assault, the likes of which I'm sure many officers had not experienced in their entire careers We're just going to take a quick break. Here on the other side, we're going to discuss the criminal history of one of Shakira's three killers See soon. Monday com AI agents took over my work. And I absolutely love it. Chasing deadlines, writing status reports, updating stakeholders. Agents handle the daily grind now. I stay in the loop only when it matters. Create your own AI agent in minutes on Monday dot comot I'm Greg Richard. It is hot outside and now it's time to cool down. At PC, Richard and Sun, we have the largest selection of air conditioners all at the g guaranteed lowest prices. Come see our knowledgeable salespeople to help get you the right air conditioner today come back, right. Let's get straight into the rest of the story As more information started to come out, particularly regarding Stoodholm, Things got even more shocking. because she had a criminal history the likes of which would make anyone shudder. Previous convictions included attacks on another woman and the neglect of a child. And when you look online, especially at places like the RIP Shakira Spencer Facebook group You start to see just how many people had something to say about Stoodholm. Posts and comments from people claiming they'd been bullied by Stoodholm in the past, with many not mincing the words at all They describe her as someone who targeted vulnerable people and picked on those she saw as weaker, which is typical with bullies It does need to state in here that those posts are made by people speaking from their own experiences, and the comments display their own opinions And while it can give you an insight into someone's character, i. is. Stoodholmes, and I'm not suggesting what's said in there isn't true It's not the same as evidence presented in court regarding what happened to Shakira I hope that makes sense and for anyone that has been affected by Stoodhome in the past, I'm truly sorry for what you've been through There were a couple of points that came up repeatedly from various users, many of whom chose to remain anonymous, and they are worth mentioning. One claim was that Shakira's children had at one point been allowed to live with Stoodholm Bpite stood home herself having had her own children taken into care Another was that more people may have been involved in the abuse of Shakira over a longer period of time. including potentially meemmbers of Pendlebrgh's own familyam Now I've looked into this as much as I can, and I couldn't find anything official to fully back those claims up, which again isn't to say they're not true Whether that's down to the information simply not being made public whether it's speculation, I can't say either way It might just be my lacking armchair detective skills, I'll be honest Either way, there's also talk that the seventy eight year old woman who was arrested could have been Pendlebury's mum or a member of his family with some people online believing she may have avoided any charges by cooperating with the police later on Again, that's not something that's been confirmed by any official reporting. So it does stay firmly in the realm of speculation as far as I can tell, again, I may be wrong But it does show you how many people still have questions around this case. If you want to see some of those discussions for yourself and come to your own conclusion, I recommend you do give it a look if you get the time Facebook group is out there a reminder that it's called RIP Shakira Spencer. There's also been a documentary made covering Shakira's case as part of the Crimes that Shook Britain TV series As we head back to the story's main timeline, we arrive october fourth, twenty twenty two It was on that day when all three defendants appeared at the Old Bailey for a preliminary hearing. Two women attended in person appearing physically in the dock, while Pendelbray appeared via video link from HMP Wandsworth. The judge in the case, John Hillen, laid it out very plainly Each of them was charged with the murder of Shakira and he stated that her death was most likely caused by an assault which had been described as torture All three were remanded into custody upon that hearing's conclusion, with a trial date set for september fourth, twenty twenty three It was expected to last up to six weeks Plea hearing was also scheduled for december twentieth, twenty twenty two And it was at that hearing where all three denied murdering Shakira as well as preventing a laawful burial We've now arrived at the part of the story where things become almost unbearable to listen to Everything I'm about to go through was revealed during the trial And I what lie to you? It's not going to be easier to hear It was difficult to even read through, let alone put into words for you But it's important nonetheless. Because it's the truth about what Shakira was subjected to She was abused for months, perhaps years if we've been realistic And it wasn't abuse carried out at the hands of strangers, not that that would make it any more palatable Kira, she was tormented by three people she believed were her friends It brings us full circle to where trust in nature we mentioned at the top of the episode Oening the case, prosecutor Allison Huntter, KC didn't sugarcoat things at all. She said that for reasons that can only be described as cruel and sadistic, the three defendants tormented, tortured, starved, burned, and eventually battered Shakira to death Over a period of months, Shakira was completely broken down, becoming a shell of her former self, both personality wise and physically The primary perpetrator appears to have been Stoodhol, but all three played their part They isolated Shakira from everyone she knew, essentially taking away her independence She did so to the point where she was under their complete control rellyant on the very people abusing her day in, day out This was a woman who was known for being kind and wanting to please people Those traits were exploited to the highest degree What started out as a friendship, particularly with Stoodholm turnurned it into something unrecognizable. evil Shakir was effectively enslaved by those three She was made to run errands for them clean their homes basically do whatever they told her whenever they saw fit She was woken up at all hours, sent out to the shops, treated like she wasn't even human They also severely deprived her of food. point where she was surviving on nothing more than discarded saches of ketchup. Over time, she lost an extreme amount of weight as a result of her being starved Jurors heard that she went from being described as a healthy, happy size sixteen in early twenty twenty one to a size six by july twenty twenty two which left her looking gone and skeletal There are photos out there of Shakira before and after the events that led to her death And honestly, they're difficult to look at It's like looking at a completely different person You've got this happy and bubbly woman with a lust for life on one side and then a dejected, malnourished victim of horrendous abuse on the other They took everything from her Her money, her home herer self respect At one stage, Pendlebraright was living in her flat, while Shakira was made to stay in a bike shed for goodness sake She wasn't even allowed to stay in her own home due to the controlling actions of those three monsters There were also claims she was being and I'm quoting here prostituted At least according to what the defendants themselves said Now I'm not a fan of that term, as you probably know But it's the one used in all the reporting out there, Hence itss inclusion here. And as if all of that wasn't enough, The three defendants documented it all took photos and filmed themselves physically assault in Shiakira for their own amusement image is shown to the jury of Shakira with bruising all over her body She had hollow eyes and was clearly malnourished. She must have been in such perpetual pain, given the level of suffering she were put through And in some of those videos, they're apparently laughing while they carry out the abuse, mocking Shakira in the process to them It was just entertainment Then we finally get to september twenty twenty two On the eleventh or twelfth of that month, after weeks and weeks of abuse Things escalated even further. Shakir was attacked for hours, assaulted again and again by all three of them. At one point, they even stopped to have dinner with children who were in the house before carrying on as they' left off didn't bat an eyelid. suggesting that to them, this was totally normal and acceptable behavior. At one point, Shakira was scoldded with boiling water Now I appreciate I don't typically go into this much detail regarding what happened to the victims in my episodes But as I've touched upon I think it'd been doing Shakira a disservice to downplay what she went through before her life was ended In one of the most disturbing parts of this entire case, her attackers were said to have used an aerosol can and a lighter to create a makeshift blow toorch, burning Shakira in the process At one stage when Sthm's thumb apparently became sore from holding the lighter passed it to Pendlebury to carry on. That's the level of cruelty we're talking about here She's complaining about a thumbbean saw Meanwhile, they're physically burning Shakira Do doesn't make sense. none of it makes sense. let's be honest It's unfathomable. Oh and another thing, two children were present while all this went on, like that sink kin One of them even described the smell of can't even say this one One of them even described the smell of burnt flesh in the room in court when they gave evidence because that's what they'd witnessed child One of them spoke about seeing Shakira being hit over the head, kicked to the floor, surrounded by all three attackers while she begged them to stop Another described seeing her being hit so hard that saliva came from her mouth desescribe it in a way no child should ever have to or an adult for that matter. After that prolonged attack, Shakira lost consciousness But instead of helping her Her attackers dragged her into a hallway and left her there on the floor The following day, the abuse continued By this point, Shakirro was barely able to function And eventually, her body just couldn't take any more and she died from the many injuries she'd suffered Stoodh and Pendlebray then decided not to call the emergency services but to put her body into the boo of a red Honda civic which had been borrowed They then drove Shakira back to her own flat and once again left her there. At first they put a body in a hallway cupboard which as you'll recall, is where forensic teams recovered a large amount of blood Later on, they moved her body to the bunk bed where it would eventually be found They even tried to stage the scene to throw off the police should they ever come knocking Ice was packed around her body in a crude attempt to slow decomposition to throw off when she'd actually died. papers were placed near to her body. The theory being that people might think she'd just been reading and passed away peacefully Given her injuries, that's a ridiculous thing to think, but Who knows what a killer thinks, right After that, they went into full on cover upp mode They used Shakira's own bank card. It didn't stop after she'd died. They even used her card to buy cleaning products. But they were caught on CCTV moving around the town They were seen going back to Studholm's address in Harrow, clearly trying to clean up and get rid of any evidence, throwing away several black binbags in the process Police ended up reviewing over eight a half thousand hours of CCTV footage during the investigation which is an astronomical amount In that footage, some of which is available to view in snippets online You can see them coming and going from Shakira's flats You can even see Shakira herself at times. She's visibly injured, her eyes noticeably black and blue There was also blood found in the Boo of that Honda civic I mentioned, which again matched Shakira's. Bloodsain trainers were also recovered from Pendlebury's home and were confirmed as been the same ones he was seen wearing while disposing of items in black binbags And as we all know, with murderers, it's so rare for them to keep their mouth shut and not boast about what they've done. keep it themselves, and that's exactly what Pendlebury failed to do He confided in a relative, explaining that he'd been involved in Shakira's murder alongside Stoodholm and Richardson Thankfully, that information was quickly passed ono the police, which I assume is what led to their swift arrests There was even talk that the three had planned to dispose of Shakira's body in a caravan that Pendleborough had borrowed from his aunt, who I believe may have been the one who phoned the police But by that point, her body had decomposed to such an extent that they couldn't risk moving her Hence, she was left in the flat Even with that admission to his relative, Pendlebrake tried to distance himself from it all at the trial He claimed he had nothing to do with Shakira's death, insisting he'd actually offered to call her an ambulance when he saw her in a bad state. He told jurors he'd found her in a cupboard, giving her some soup. and help Toronto a bed because she was too weak to even drink properly. It's amazing the unnecessary level of detail people go into when they're lying isn't it He said he only realized she died when Stoodholm told him and that he went to check for himself because he couldn't believe it This is the same guy who was filmed physically abusing her by the way But his version of events obviously doesn't line up with what others said There was witness testimony placing him right there during the assault even without the video evidence