Martine Vik Magnussen Was Strangled After Celebrating Exam Success

The family of a Norwegian student have told how she had been celebrating coming top of her class when she was murdered after a night out with the son of an Arab billionaire.

Police announced yesterday that Martine Vik Magnussen had been strangled before her semi-naked body was dumped in the basement of a block of luxury flats in Central London.

Ms Magnussen, 23, was last seen alive getting into a cab with Farooq Abdulhak, the 21-year-old son of a Yemeni billionaire, on March 14. Mr Abdulhak, a fellow student at Regent’s Business College, left the country the same afternoon.

Ms Magnussen’s father, Odd Petter Magnussen, an IT consultant, spoke about the loss of his daughter as police appealed for information about Mr Abdulhak’s whereabouts.

“Martine was a hard-working and intelligent girl — yet with a down-to-earth attitude,” Mr Magnussen said. “The night she died she was celebrating end of term with the best results of her class.

“Martine loved life and her family, and with her kind and charismatic personality she brought light into everyday life of so many. It is hard to get to terms with the fact that she was taken away from us — and in this way.

“The loss of our beloved daughter and sister has turned life upside down not only for us but for the rest of the family and many friends now struggling to see the meaning of life.”

Ms Magnussen’s funeral will take place on Wednesday, in Oslo. Detectives said that further pathology tests had shown that Ms Magnussen died as a result of “compression to the neck”. They also revealed further details about the night that she disappeared.

She had been out with her flatmates and fellow students in Central London on the evening of March 13 and was last seen by her friends at Maddox nightclub that night between 2am and 3am.

She is believed to have left in a taxi with Mr Abdulhak and friends reported her missing to police on March 15.

Detectives traced Mr Abdulhak to a block of flats in Great Portland Street and her body was discovered partly concealed under rubble in the basement.

Mr Abdulhak is known to have left on a flight to Cairo on the afternoon of March 14 and to have travelled on to Yemen, which does not have an extradition treaty with Britain. Friends of his claim that he admits having returned with Ms Magnussen to his flat but insists that she left the same morning.

A friend said: “They left the nightclub and went back to his home. But she left after that. He found out she was missing the next day. He panicked and called his father to get him out. Farooq says a third person was involved. His father has hired investigators to find out more.”

His father is Shaher Abdulhak, who founded Shaher Trading and whose empire now includes petroleum, soft drinks, tourism and property.

Detective Chief Inspector Jessica Wadsworth, who is leading the investigation, said: “Over the last month the investigation has concentrated on piecing together Martine’s final movements and the circumstance of her murder. We have maintained a very close relationship with Martine’s family in Norway who understandably are finding it hard to come to terms with her loss.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020-8358 0300 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

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