Man guilty of murdering his wife and starting house fire to cover it up

A man has been found guilty of stabbing his wife to death before starting a house fire to cover up the murder.

Amidu Koroma, 48, of Railton Road, Brixton, was found guilty of the murder of 46-year-old Mariam Kamara, after facing trial at the Old Bailey yesterday. 

He was also convicted of arson with intent to endanger life. He will be sentenced at the same court on Monday.

Police launched a murder inquiry after being called to the house fire in Railton Road in the early hours of January 24, 2022.

Koroma and the couple’s son had escaped the building but Ms Kamara’s body was found in the top bedroom. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police were suspicious that Koroma had made no attempt to rescue his wife from the burning building, despite re-entering at one point to get some clothes for his son.

Officers also discovered a large store of jerry cans containing petrol in the loft of the house and detected the distinctive smell of an accelerant coming from the vicinity of Ms Kamara’s body – which led them to suspect that the fire had been started deliberately.

A post-mortem found that despite Ms Kamara’s body being extremely badly fire damaged, she had in fact suffered one or more stab wounds to the neck and chest prior to her death.

There was no evidence of smoke inhalation, which meant that she had been killed before the fire was started.

Forensic evidence was also showed Ms Kamara’s blood on his clothing and a consultant plastic surgeon confirmed that a burn wound on Koroma’s foot of about 8-9cm, could only have been caused by close contact with the fire – contrary to Koroma’s claims that he could not access the room where the fire was to rescue his wife.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Wood, who led the investigation, said: “This was a brutal murder and an appalling act of violence against a woman.

“After murdering his wife, Koroma then started a fire to cover up his actions. This was a further selfish act which put other members of the public at risk.

“Our thoughts are with Ms Kamara’s family and friends, and in particular with her son who we continue to support through this trauma.”

Pictured top: Amidu Koroma (Picture: The Met)