British Teenager Killed Two Sisters in Satanic Pact to Win Lottery, Court Hears

Two sisters stabbed to death by a stranger in a park in Northwest London were sacrificed as part of a satanic bargain to win the lottery, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Danyal Hussein
An artist’s rendering of Danyal Hussein in the dock at the Old Bailey. He is accused of murdering two sisters in a London park last year. (Image: Express and Star)

Danyal Hussein, 19, is on trial at the Old Bailey, London’s Central Criminal Court, for the murder of Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46. The sisters’ bodies were found intertwined in a hedgerow in Fryent Country Park on June 7 last year. Each had been stabbed multiple times in a seemingly frenzied attack.

The court heard that investigators searching Hussein’s mother’s house, where he lived, found a handwritten note that appeared to be a pact with a demon. The note indicated the suspect agreed to sacrifice women for financial gain. Folded inside the note were three lottery tickets that the suspect had purchased shortly after the killing.

Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said Hussein appeared to believe the diabolical pact would protect him from being suspected of any crime he had committed.

As it turned out, the demon did not come good on the bargain, since not only did the defendant not win the lottery, but the police identified all the evidence that links him to these two murders,” Glasgow told the jury.

Shocking Discovery

On the night of June 6, Smallman and Henry had been celebrating the latter’s birthday in the park with friends. London was locked down at the time, and so bars and nightclubs were closed.

The two women decided to stay on after their guests had left, listening to music and dancing.

When they failed to come home the next day, their friends returned to the park to search for them. They first found a pair of glasses belonging to one of the women, then a bloodied kitchen knife. A trail of flattened grass led them to the hedgerow and a shocking discovery.

Henry had been stabbed eight times and Smallman 28 times, jurors heard.

CCTV surveillance footage and forensic evidence led investigators to Hussein. They found his DNA on the knife and on the bodies of the victims.   

He had also recently bought kitchen knives, and he visited the hospital on the morning after the attack for treatment to cuts to his hands.

Hussein, of Southeast London, denies murder.

Satanic Rituals

As bizarre as the case is, it’s not the first instance of people resorting to murder in the hope that Satan might intervene to improve their lottery odds.

In 2018, two men and a teenager lured four victims to a drunken party in the village of Iguatu, Brazil, before shooting and dismembering them.

Describing the trio as “Devil worshippers,” police said they participated in a ritual that involved drinking their victims’ blood to invoke Satan.

Prosecutors said the murderers believed this would help them win the Mega-Sena lottery, which has a £4 million jackpot.

Philip Conneller
Philip Conneller Senior Reporter

In Philip Conneller’s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation.

Philip was the original features editor for poker’s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites.

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Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John’s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic.

He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist.

Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC.

Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.

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