Police conclude double murder mystery in Deptford

The Met have concluded a two year long double murder mystery that took place in a flat in Deptford.

Noel Brown and his daughter Marie Brown were found dead in Mr Brown’s flat in December 2017 after they had both been strangled.

The Met confirmed they would have brought double murder charges against 37 year old Nathaniel Henry, had he not been found dead three weeks later from a drugs overdose.

Marie, 41, was murdered after going to Noel’s flat to check on her 69 year old father as he had not been seen for a few days.

Both deaths were ruled as unlawful killings at an inquest on November 12 at Southwark Coroner’s Court.

After a lengthy investigation, detectives matched DNA at he crime scene to a family member of Nathaniel Henry and CCTV footage showed him travelling to the flat.

The Met believed it was a revenge killing for a crime that Mr Brown had been convicted of before.

Nathaniel Henry was found dead in a residential block of flats in Southwark close to his home address

Detective chief inspector Harding said: “Whilst there can be no court proceedings in this case, we can say that we would have presented a file to the CPS to ask for double homicide charges – and we are not looking for anyone else.

“We have kept the Brown family appraised at every stage of our findings, and I would like to thank them for their assistance throughout.

“In the course of this lengthy enquiry, we gathered extensive CCTV footage and forensic evidence that we would have wanted to be been tested in court. Although we will never know for sure, we believe the motive to have been revenge for one of the previous crimes that Noel Brown was convicted of.”

Sharon Brown, Noel Brown’s daughter, said: “The family of Noel Brown would like him to be remembered as a valued man and caring father. This devastating loss has robbed us of his presence unfairly, made worse by the knowledge that no one is being brought to justice for this crime.

“Noel Brown was a jovial, kind person who was always known as a loyal friend. He did not deserve to die in this horrific way.

“Life has not been the same since we learned of his brutal murder.

“For the last two years, we have experienced acute shock, severe anxiety and depression, struggling to carry on with our lives when nothing will ever be the same again.

“It is harder to work, socialize or even feel safe in our homes. When a family member is lost in this way, life can’t go back to what it used to be.

“We will be haunted for the rest of our lives by this crime and the suffering Noel endured in his final hours.”

Cassandra, Marie Brown’s half-sister and her daughter Vanita, said: “As a family we have really struggled to come to terms with the death of our lovely Marie.

“It has been nearly two years since she was taken from us and we are still in pain.

“All Marie ever did was care for everyone. Even in her final moments of life she was doing her best to care for people.

“She was extremely kind and gentle – the sort of person to give you the last of anything she had. We will never understand why she was robbed from us. Marie was everything and we miss her so much.

“As we said two years ago, to know Marie would be to know how much time she dedicated to her children and how she constantly wanted to help people.

“Especially her father who she loved and deeply cared for. He was a humble man who was creative and kept to himself.

“It is a terrible thing that the evil in this world cost us something as innocent as Marie. We thank everyone who came forward with information and we would also like to thank the Met police for carrying out the investigation.

“We are grateful for all the support that has been extended to our family during this terrible time. We would now like to privately mourn the loss of Marie and continue with our lives.

“There are many things that we have started that Marie would have been so proud of and we intend to finish them. Marie’s name will never be forgotten.”