True Crime with Kimbyr - The Walk That Ended in Horror: The Heartbreaking Murder of Sabina Nessa

Episode Date: May 29, 2025

In this gripping episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha uncovers the haunting murder of 28-year-old teacher Sabina Nessa—attacked during a simple walk to meet a date in a quiet London neighborhood. Found brutally beaten in a park, her death shocked a community that hadn’t seen a murder in over 50 years. Who could commit such a senseless crime? Kimbyrleigha dives deep, challenging early reports, uncovering disturbing truths, and honoring Sabina’s legacy as a beloved sister, teacher, and daughter. This emotional and analytical case breakdown will leave you heartbroken—and asking hard questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes there are cases that are so evil and twisted, ones that don't make sense to those of us that are compassionate to loving people with a conscience. But there are monsters walking among us that seem to lack even the slightest bit of humanity. This is one of those stories. It'll leave you asking why and questioning whether you can truly know anyone, because some humans have truly evil minds. One Friday evening, in a quiet London neighborhood, a young woman, She was a woman stepped out for what should have been a quick walk to meet her date for dinner. It was a simple act that was part of her normal routine, something that everyone should feel safe doing. But this time was different.

This time, she never made it home. Hi everyone, welcome back to my channel, and if you've never been here before, I'm Kimberlea. It's nice to finally meet you. This case actually happened back in 2021, so not that long ago. And while researching, I noticed there was little to no coverage to begin with, And then the reporting that I did see released in the media, the news articles, even videos online, it was all created very soon afterward. So a lot of the facts were not available yet. And if you know me, I had to know more. So I decided that I would go digging. I wanted to know more, especially since

some of the details that I read about didn't seem to make sense to me. And they were either misreported or unknown before everything was truly uncovered. So if you've heard of this case before, you might want to stick around because maybe you will learn something new and your questions might be answered. For today's story, I'm taking you into the heart of London, but not the bustling center you might imagine. No, we're actually heading to a place called Kidbrook Village. A hidden gem nestled in Southeast London's Royal Borough of Greenwich. Now, it's a much-thought-after address, but this charming village was once a post-war wasteland. It was a relic of World War II, and the site used to serve as a base of war after address.

for the Royal Air Force, before laying dormant until the late 1960s, when it was transformed into the infamous Farrier Estate, which was an urban housing complex. It consisted of 74 blocks, ranging from two-story houses to 13-floor towers, and it had a lot of promise, but it ended up becoming a symbol of failed urban planning when it began to deteriorate, and people started to leave, and then it was completely abandoned by 2006, which left it looking like a post-apocalyptic ghost town. That is until 2009, when a new vision for the area emerged from its desolate foundations, a one billion pound regeneration project breathed life into this barren land. They demolished everything and by 2010 Kidbrook Village was born. It's a self-contained,

idyllic blend of modern living and natural beauty. It sounds like I'm doing an ad, but it is now a thriving community with parks, ponds, and plenty of green spaces. And at its heart, Lyskater Park, an 86-acre oasis, perfect for family fun. It's a popular place for picnics, bike rides, and playing outdoors, especially with its close to three-acre designated playground. Kidbrook Village has everything, so residents don't really need to leave. It has two on-site primary schools with really good ratings, and the Village Center, which consists of residents-only gyms, and Sainsbury Supermarket,

as well as a 24-hour concierge service in the retail hub. Now it doesn't have a bustling nightlife, but a few cute pubs and restaurants walking distance from the townhomes and apartments nearby. At this point, I think you get the idea. Modern suburban living, a great place to raise children, but with the excitement and opportunities of London. Well, now that I've set the stage for you, I'll let you know that when this case took place, it was said that there had not been a murder in this location in over 50 years. That is, until an emergency call came in to the Metropolitan Police Department on the evening, of September 18th, 2021. It was around 5.30 p.m. when a local Kidbook resident explained to the emergency operator

that he'd been walking his dog through Cater Park. When he got to the backside of the Youth Community Center called One Space, his dog began sniffing in a more erratic manner toward an area of tall grass off the path of the sidewalk. On first glance, the man thought his dog had found a potato sack in the bushes. I know.

Why would a potato sack be there? But this was what he thought, what his mind thought he would recognize. But as he got closer, he realized it was a person that he actually believed had been simply resting or even sleeping. But as he got even closer, he noticed it appeared to be a young woman. He could see she was wearing a pair of sparkly boots and a black outfit. So he called out to her believing that maybe she had a few too many drinks the night before and passed out. But he did think it was strange that it looked like a little bit of her, she was covered in leaves.

So he crouched down and he began to talk to her. She wasn't responding. And that's when he explained, he brushed off some of those leaves and saw a lot of flies hovering around, which was his first clue that something wasn't right. But still, his mind wasn't registering what he was looking at. But upon further inspection, the position that she was in didn't seem natural. Her boots were facing the sky.

Her neck was almost turned all the way back. and then he noticed the blood. Still, he attempted to find a sign of life by feeling her neck for a pulse, but there wasn't one, and she clearly wasn't breathing. He knew that he needed to call 9-99, but his phone was dead, so he ran to a person nearby

who had been in the same area looking through the grass for a gold necklace they had lost, and he told them he had just found a body, and he asked if he could borrow their phone. As you can probably imagine, this was an extremely shocking and traumatizing experience, for these two residents, to find a body in a popular, well-traveled park in this very safe, close-knit community. Anyone could have stumbled upon this scene. So many children that are playing

in this area, so many families that were enjoying the beautiful weather that weekend. It didn't seem real that a person was lying dead right there in the middle of the park. Of course, the police acted fast. Senior Metropolitan Police Detective, Inspector Neil John, and Detective Inspector Joe Garrity were leading this investigation. And as soon as the team got on the scene, they began cordoning off the area where the body had been found and they put up a blue tent around the remains

so that onlookers would not be able to catch a glimpse or worse, take pictures. It was clear that the woman had suffered a violent death and they were dealing with a homicide. Most of the injuries that could be seen with a preliminary examination were to her head. Now, a crime scene manager was called in. They were responsible for the forensic response

to major crime scenes. And what's important to note, and we don't always think about this, is that when you're dealing with an outdoor crime scene, it's much different than dealing with finding a body, let's say, at a house, for example. When a crime scene is inside a building or a home, all the evidence is usually contained within the walls of that location. And investigators don't have to worry so much about things being contaminated due to inclement weather, for instance.

And the person they find deceased usually has some connection to where they were found. Maybe they live there or maybe the person who did this to them live there. Those connections are a lot easier to make than finding someone outside and not knowing who they are, where they're from, and how they got there. There's going to be a lot of questions no matter where a body is found. There's a lot more unknowns when you're dealing with a crime scene outside though. Did they die there? Were they placed there after they were killed?

And of course, the condition of their body could be worse because of the elements, the heat, maybe the rain, maybe insect activity, all of those things compound an already very complicated situation. The forensics team noticed the same things that I told you police had observed. It was clear this woman suffered from head injuries. She had definitely been beaten with something, but there was no weapon nearby. But there were other important aspects in relation to her body that told a story. The body is the first place you're going to find a lot of clues about the crime.

So in this case, the first thing investigators were looking at was the body. itself, and then they were going to work outward. She was partially nude. Her top had been pulled all the way up exposing her bra. Her skirt was also pulled up, and she wasn't wearing anything on the bottom except for her boots. Her body was positioned in a very provocative manner in a sexually suggestive way. She was face up. Her hands were in both of her pockets of her coat, and her legs were spread apart and positioned upward. She'd been covered in leaves in a sloppy attempt to conceal her remains. But there was one thing that stood out right away as very odd. There wasn't a lot of blood in the location where the body was found, even though she had very significant injuries. And investigators

knew this meant she probably was attacked somewhere else and then brought to this location. Maybe she was moved so that she would be more visible to the public, to shock onlookers, maybe, especially with the way she was positioned. It seemed like this was a way to shame her, to humiliate her, even in death, or this could have been a way so that she was found easier. They don't know. But now they have to find out where she was before she was brought there,

which meant that their crime scene was about to get a lot bigger. And that can make it even more difficult to search for clues. The easy part in this case was actually identifying the victim, in most cases that take some time. But her passport was inside her coat pocket. The badly beaten woman that was found deceased in Cater Park was 12.

was 28-year-old Sabina Nessa. Of course, when she was identified, the very next step was to contact her family as soon as possible. You don't want them to find out about this on the news, through media. You want them to be informed properly. But you also need to gather as much information

from her family as possible, because maybe her family knew why she was in that location, or who she was with last, or if there was anyone who might want to harm her. It's difficult to quantify the devastation Sabina's family felt when they were notified of her death. Her parents had immigrated to the UK for a better and safer life for their family, and now they were about to learn their daughter had been murdered.

Before I go there, let me tell you who Sabina Nessa was. Her father, Abder Ralph, and her mother, Azabinessa, arrived in London from Bangladesh back in 1980. Her father found a job working as a chef, and soon the couple would welcome four daughters. Javina was the oldest. She was born in North London in 1991, and then just under a year later, Sabina was born on October 23, 1992 in Greenwich. At this point, the family moved to a red brick semi-detached council house on a quiet cul-de-sac in the town of Sandy, which is located in central Bedfordshire. And 10 years after Sabina was born, two more daughters would complete their family. Sabina's parents still lived in the same home when this tragedy occurred. They raised their daughters there,

And they even became property owners by purchasing that home for 35,000 pounds. Since they'd been in the neighborhood so long, they were very well-known, very well-liked, and respected by their close-knit community. Everyone loved the Nessa girls. They were familiar faces in this area, known to be lovely young women who came from a really good family. Sabina and her older sister, Jimina, were very close. They had a very strong bond that continued throughout their adulthood. When they were little, the two of them shared a bedroom, and they loved to pretend they were

teachers. They would actually go back and forth with one pretending they were the student and the other the teacher and then they would switch. Sabina always took her role as a teacher very seriously. It was her nature to want to help others. The girls' close-knit family's Muslim faith was important to them and Sabina would often raise money to give to individuals that were experiencing poverty back in her parents' homeland in Bangladesh. But beyond that, Sabina wanted to make sure she learned as much as she could because she saw the hardships her parents faced, being unable to speak, and write in English. Sabina actually made sure that she was able to step in for her mom and dad. She was the one that would deal with anything that came to replying to letters or answering to

administrators at her school. She would interpret for her parents so that they were informed about what was going on. Sabina valued education from a very young age because she knew it would help her have a better life one day. She was known to be hungry for knowledge and she would spend all of her extra money buying books. She always had a book with her. And when technology advanced, Sabina would enjoy reading the news on her phone, which was one of her daily routines. The sisters also enjoyed nature. They loved riding their bikes together in the park, and they had a lot of free space to play outside where they lived. Sabina was never happier than when she was outside. She loved animals as well. First, the girls had some birds as pets, and then they got three cats that they absolutely adored. Sabina just had such a caring nature about her. She was very lovable. She was also an excellent student. She got straight A's in school, and she was.

and she enjoyed all of her subjects, but she really liked English and math. After Sabina graduated high school in 2011, the pretend games that she used to play with her sister became her reality. She decided she wanted to be a teacher. She was the kind of person who wanted to make a difference in the world by inspiring the minds of children. But it didn't end there. She dreamed of being a head teacher one day and to go teach a language to children abroad in Dubai. She loved kids. As a matter of fact, her loving and caring side, Caring Side made her a great aunt to her sister Jabina's children. When Jabina got married and moved to London, Sabina followed not too long afterward. She didn't want to be far from her closest sibling.

They were like best friends. When Sabina moved to London, she enrolled at Greenwich University and studied sociology and graduated in 2014. Her personal tutor during her degree courses, a Dr. Luis Owensu Kartang said that Sabina loved learning, and she didn't have a bad bone in her body. And she was looking forward to Sabina making a difference in her future pupils' lives one day. After completing her undergraduate degree, Sabina went on to do a master's in teaching at the University of Bedfordshire. She wasn't all work and no fun, though. She was actually very outgoing and social.

Out of the Nessa family, she was the only extrovert. She was loud, silly, opinionated, but kind-hearted, and she was always making jokes. Her nieces would describe her as crazy, but what they meant was that she had a lot of energy and random outbursts of laughter. She spent a lot of time with them when they were little toddlers. She absolutely loved fashion, so she would introduce them to her favorite clothes and makeup. Sabina loved to shop. She liked buying makeup, purses, and shoes, and enjoyed getting dressed up and looking pretty. And she was very pretty.

She had long, dark hair, olive skin, and striking dark, soulful eyes. And sometimes she liked to wear light-colored contact lenses. She definitely stood out in a crowd, not only because of her looks, but because of the energy she brought with her wherever she. she went. She was described as being full of fun and a beautiful, kind soul, a girly girl, generous, funny, and determined. And that sums her up in words, but to really know Sabina was to truly love her, and her students loved her. Yes, she did end up becoming a teacher. After finishing her master's degree, Sabina obtained a qualification from Cambridge to teach English as a foreign language. She was well on her way to achieving all of her goals. For Sabina, life was good.

a year after finishing her education, she landed her dream job in 2020. She became a year one teacher at Rushie Green Primary School and Lewisham. She had a class full of five and six year old students and she treated each one of them as they were unique. For instance, if a student like chess, she would start a chess club so that the other kids could get involved in what that student liked. She wanted all of her students to feel loved and included. According to her family, friends, and colleagues, Sabina took her first teaching job in this low-income area of London because she was well aware of the many challenges and discrimination in children face. She knew that there was going to be a lot of suffering going on in the world, and she wanted to try her best to make a difference

in these children's lives. She wanted them to tear down any barriers of disadvantage they may have so that they could reach their full potential. And even though Sabina had only been at the school a short amount of time, she made a big impact. Head teacher, Lisa Williams, described Sabina as a brilliant teacher and absolutely dedicated to her students. She would come to school early before anyone else and she treated her classroom like her home. Lisa said Sabina would often buy flowers on her way to school and then display them in her classroom so everyone could enjoy them. And when the school chefs, Luke and Rob began growing a few herbs and vegetables in the garden on the school grounds, Sabina was the first teacher to take her class to go have a look.

She was always involved in everything that was going on with everyone. She chose to eat lunch with her students every day without fail. And she wouldn't just sit there watching them quietly. She would get involved. She would talk to them, encourage them, and she was part of their lives in more ways than just being their teacher. However, as passionate as Sabina was in ensuring other people's children were cared for, family always came first.

There was a time when one of her nephew's parents could not afford lunch for him. and Sabina discreetly but generously paid for his food so that he could eat with his classmates and not feel left out. Sabina always made time for her family no matter how busy she got. She would speak with Jabina all the time, at least a few times a week, if not more, and she still made time to visit her parents' home in Bevershire. She would never come empty-handed either.

She would burst through those doors with many shopping bags full of items, including flowers, clothes, and presents. Sabina was a bright light, selfless. always smiling, especially when talking about her students. When she visited with her family, she would share the latest thing that one of the kids in her class said or did, or even a picture they had drawn for her.

She was so proud of each of them. Sabina lived in an apartment in Kidbrook Village off of Astel Road. I'm going to be showing this on the map if you're watching. If not, it's quite a right. I always explain everything. These apartments were part of that regeneration plan I told you about that began in 2010. They're luxury-style apartments that come fully furnished with modern designer kitchens and bathrooms,

hardwood floors, mood lighting, and spacious balconies overlooking the beautiful landscaping in green areas throughout Kidbrook. They even have a concierge service and an on-site gym. Everything you would need. Sabina lived with her roommate, and she was very proud of their living space. She would bring fresh flowers home and put them around the apartment. Sabina loved the nearby Cater Park. There was an entrance that was only a couple minutes walk from her building, and she would go there all the time to enjoy the outdoors. She also enjoyed exploring new places with her friends. Living in London meant plenty of nightlife, attractions, and restaurants,

and Sabina enjoyed all it had to offer. She was also nearing 30 years old and thinking about her future and having kids of her own one day. But she never got the chance to experience that, because she never made it to age 29. Her body was found just a month before, before her next birthday and just 200 feet from her front door, lying lifeless in the sprawling Cater Park. Now let's jump back to the investigation. Authorities were doing their best to locate

Sabina's next of kin to make that death notification. Meanwhile, they have expanded this crime scene and cordoned off a larger portion of Cater Park. They brought in drones and they began combing the area for evidence, but they weren't really finding anything significant by doing the normal line search of the park. Sabina's body was found on the back side of the One Space Community Youth Center. There's a skate park and meeting areas, and One Space is a Christian community center on the edge of the Kidbrook Village development. The building has a cafe, as well as offices where young people could meet up. So at this point, they don't know when Sabina had been killed. So they began looking for witnesses who may have seen something out of

the ordinary. At the same time, investigators began looking for cameras nearby that might have captured the attack on video. And luckily, since this was a newer development, this park had a number of cameras along the pathways. So they went about obtaining all of the CCTV footage they could. Sabina's body was then removed and taken to the mortuary for a post-mortem examination. It didn't take long for people to notice all of the commotion that was happening in the middle of their community. It was quite obvious by the blue tent in the park that someone had died there.

And of course, everyone wanted to know what was going on, in such a popular and well-traveled area where kids and families walk every single day. And soon, there was a lot of buzz within the community. People were walking up. They were asking officers what happened. But of course, the authorities remained tight-lipped until they had more information and had notified Sabina's loved ones. All night, officers stood guard outside the park's perimeter

so that no evidence would be disturbed. And by the next day, Sabina's mother and father, as well as a couple of her sisters, had been notified about the heartbreaking news. Even though Sabina was so close and in frequent communication with her sister, Dubina, she had no idea Sabina was missing until she got the news that her body had been found. Can you imagine?

Her phone rang in the morning on Sunday, September 19th, the morning after Sabina had been discovered. Jabina was busy with her kids, so her husband answered, and she actually thought that it was going to be Sabina calling, but instead it was one of their other sisters to inform them that Sabina was dead. When Jabina's husband relayed the news, she was in shock.

She said her whole world fell apart. And she later said she couldn't have imagined the horror of that call. Jabina and her husband immediately left their home and they made their way to their parents' house in Bedfordshire. They didn't have much information up to this point. The only thing they knew was that Sabina had been found deceased. While they were on their way,

Jabina was so desperate for information about what happened to her sister, that she was frantically conducting Google searches from her phone. The only information she was able to find was that the body of a young woman had been found close to where Sabina lived. And at that point, she made her husband pull the car over to the side of the road, and she began yelling

and saying, could this be Sabina? She described the journey to her parents' house as horrendous. Even when she and her husband arrived, the wait wasn't over. It took another hour for the police to meet them there. And Jabina said that this was the longest hour of their lives. When the authorities did arrive, they gave her family even more bad news. Not only had Sabina been found deceased, but she had also been murdered. As you can imagine, her parents were absolutely devastated and beside themselves with grief.

They were inconsolable. And Sabina's father, it's so sad, but he went door to door in their neighborhood to deliver the news in person about the death of his daughter to all their neighbors. And I can't imagine how horrible this poor family must have felt. You do not think that something like this will ever. happened to someone so close to you, and that's exactly what Jabina said, that she never thought that they'd be going through something like this. Who would have wanted this kind young woman dead? That's what everyone wanted and needed to know. Investigators had to work backward to find

out what Sabina was doing before she was killed. So the next person they wanted to interview was Sabina's roommate. And this is when some context is finally added to Sabina's story. Her roommate told investigators that on Friday night, September 17th, Sabina was going on a first date with a guy that she met earlier that year. They had plans to meet at a local bar and restaurant called Depot. Here in the U.S., we would actually pronounce this as Depot, but it's an area of Kidbrook called Pegler Square, where all the other shops, restaurants, and businesses are located. It's a nice, modern establishment with booths outside in the beer garden, so you can enjoy a meal and a drink under the night sky. And inside, there's a full

bar and lots of cozy couches and boots and tables to sit at. Sabina's roommate said that she had gotten all glammed up wanting to look her best in anticipation of her night out. She was excited to be finally meeting up with this guy that she had been talking to after their friendship had turned into something more recently. Investigators asked if Sabina seemed nervous about this meetup, and her roommate said, no, not nervous. She was happy about seeing him, but she was running late. On Fridays, the depot closes at 11 p.m., and they stopped serving food at 9.30. And Sabina was still at her apartment when her date texted her a little before 8.30 via WhatsApp,

letting her know he was already at Depot and he asked where she was. She told him that she was just about to leave, and that was around 832 p.m. Now, it's obvious that Sabina was running behind, and she wasn't driving that night since she knew she might have a few drinks, and the walk from her place to the depot via the main roadway would have only taken roughly 12 minutes. However, she wasn't found on the main road. She was found inside the park. And if she had cut through Cater Park, it would have shaved off at least a few minutes.

Considering the investigators now realized that Sabina didn't want to keep her date waiting, they assumed she took a shortcut through the park and someone either followed her, crossed her path, or they knew that she would be there, and they took that opportunity to attack and kill her. But it still didn't make sense. The thing is, this wasn't typical for Sabina.

Her roommate explained that she was very cautious, and she even mentioned in the past that she was nervous about being in that park at night, even though it was in a safe area. She would rather take the long way anytime she was going to Pegler Square. She was never able to explain exactly why she got a bad vibe from Cater Park at night.

Maybe it was the looming shadows of the tall trees. Or maybe it was intuition about the role that this area would later play in her future. We will never know. But on this occasion, she must have made a conversation. Her roommate told investigators that she became worried later in that night when Sabina had not returned to their apartment. She began texting her, but not getting an answer, and she said it wasn't like her not to reply to messages. She also told investigators that she never thought something like this could happen to her,

and she no longer feel safe living there. Many people would feel the same way once the word got out about Sabina's murder. It was still only a couple days after she had been found, so the information provided to the public was sparse. was sparse. The night of Sabina's murder, the London sunset was 7.10 p.m. So it would have already been dark when Sabina left her apartment. But even at that hour, there would have been people in the park, some doing the same thing Sabina was doing, taking a shortcut to bars or restaurants or making the way home from work. So maybe someone saw something.