Bala Chinda, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Friday for the rape and murder of Nigerian high class escort, Jessica Nkechi McGraa is also a Nigerian, according to Scottish Press.
Chinda’s father works at the Nigerian embassy in Beijing. The 26-year-old killed Ms McGraa only a few weeks after arriving in Scotland to study at Robert Gordon University.
Her body was found partially clothed on 12 February 2016, in the bedroom of the Aberdeen flat she rented. CCTV footage revealed that she had travelled to Chinda’s student accommodation on King Street with him in a taxi the previous evening, before they returned to her apartment a short time later.
The taxi driver said he heard them discussing money before she was killed. She made her last call on her mobile phone a few minutes before surveillance cameras recorded Chinda walking down the street away from her flat.
The court heard that Ms McGraa, who was orphaned as a child, died of asphyxiation and was probably smothered with a pillow and possibly strangled with her scarf.
Det Ch Insp Stuart Houston said: “At the heart of this horrific crime was a young mother, daughter and friend whose life was cut tragically short in what must have been terrifying circumstances.
“Throughout, Chinda has shown no real remorse for his depraved action and taken no responsibility for robbing a young boy of his mother.”
Chinda sobbed as he was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 18 years, after a jury at the High Court in Aberdeen returned its verdict. The murder verdict was unanimous, and the rape verdict decided by a majority.
