6 days ago
Netflix's Body in the Bin documentary: Where are Louise Kam's killers now?
Netflix has no shortage of addictive true crime series to sink your teeth in to; from the Trainwreck series, which follows topics such as the rise and fall of American Apparel, to the must-see Fred and Rose West documentary, there's plenty to pick from when you fancy a thought-provoking binge.
One of the most popular films right now is Body in the Bin: The Murder of Louise Kam, which tells the horrifying story of how two men plotted to defraud a 71-year-old out of two of her properties – which resulted in her murder, and Louise's body being unceremoniously dumped into a wheelie bin.
Here, we look at the events which led to Louise Kam's awful death, and what happened to the perpetrators of such a heinous crime.
A property developer based in Hertfordshire, Louise Kam had a significant portfolio, which included a house in Barnet, North London, worth over £1.3 million. She also owned a shop in Willesden, which had a number of flats above it.
In July 2021, Louise was reported missing by family – her son, Greg, received a text from his mother saying she had gone to China, but was suspicious by the sudden nature of the text and the way it was written.
Louise's BMW was recovered at the end of the month, and on 1 August, her body was found in a wheelie bin on a residential driveway.
In August, police released the names of Kusai Al-Jundi and Mohamed El-Abboud, who had been charged with Louise's murder.
The pair worked together in a kebab shop in Willesden, North West London.
Kusai, 25, had been introduced to Louise by a friend earlier in 2021, and duped her into believing that Kusai was a property developer.
Kusai then pretended to Louise that he had a wealthy backer called Anna, who could offer a substantial £4.8 million to purchase Louise's property portfolio – significantly above the market value at the time.
Louise reportedly thought that she could then use this money to pay off her mortgages and look after her family.
It wasn't the first time Kusai had defrauded someone – the investigation into Louise's death found Kusai also offered to buy two luxury cars from a woman named Anna Reich for £57,000 on a previous occasion, but never handed over the money.
After convincing Louise to hand over the keys to her property in Barnet, Kusai moved 28-year-old Mohamed into the property – who filmed videos at the house which he then posted on TikTok.
On 26 July 2021, Louise attended her Barnet property, where she was last seen alive. Mohamed was in the property at the time but left shortly after.
The court hearing found Louise was strangled with a hairdryer cord in a 'violent struggle', before being wrapped in a duvet and having her body cruelly dumped in a wheelie bin.
The bin was then moved to Harrow, in a bid to try and disguise what had happened.
Mohamed then sold Louise's BMW on Facebook MarketPlace, bought a new outfit and filmed himself dancing on the Barnet driveway where Louise was killed. The video was uploaded on TikTok.
Police linked DNA evidence from the scene to Mohamed and Kusai, who were also thought to have used Louise's phone to text loved ones and pretend she had left the country for a holiday.
Both Mohamed and Kusia were tried at the Old Bailey in 2023. The pair were found guilty, and each sentenced to a minimum term of 35 years in prison.
Judge Mark Lucraft described Kusai as telling 'lie after lie' to Louise, and described the way he defrauded his victim as 'cynical deception'.
'You did what you did out of greed,' he added at sentencing.
Catherine Gould, prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This horrific crime is a tale of greed taken to extremes. Al-Jundi and El-Abboud selfishly and brutally ended Louise Kam's life for their own ends.
"These defendants hatched a plan to kill Louise and profit from her death."
Gregory Kam, Louise's son added in a victim impact statement: "I deeply regret I was not able to do enough at the time to prevent my mother from falling for the lies of his wolf in sheep's clothing.
"In addition to the initial shocking news of our mother's disappearance and subsequent news of her murder, I was not only shocked but further angered and sickened to discover defendant one (Al-Jundi) enlisted the help of an accomplice (El-Abboud) to trick, entrap, overpower and murder a pension-age woman in her own home under the guise of what was supposed to be a business deal."
Body in the Bin: The Murder of Louise Kam is available to watch on Netflix
Kimberley Bond is a Multiplatform Writer for Harper's Bazaar, focusing on the arts, culture, careers and lifestyle. She previously worked as a Features Writer for Cosmopolitan UK, and has bylines at The Telegraph, The Independent and British Vogue among countless others.
