Husband of murdered police officer Nisha Patel-Nasri betrayed own guilt by 'smirking' during televised appeal to find her killer, documentary reveals

When special constable Nisha Patel-Nasri was found dying in the street metres from her home in May 2006, suspicion instantly turned to a botched break-in.

But it didn't take long before police began to close the net on a suspect who was very much closer to home - Nisha's Husband Fadi Nasri. 

His fatal mistake was to arouse the suspicion of detectives working on the case, who were left troubled by the way he had conducted himself during a TV appeal to find her killer. 

One senior officer insisted he detected 'almost a bit of a smirk' on Fadi's face as he delivered an emotionless plea for help from the public, a new Channel 5 documentary  reveals. 

Nisha's family had also been left concerned by the Crimewatch interview as they watched a dead-eyed and arrogant Fadi state to the camera: 'Someone has got to know something.' 

His nonchalance was enough to turn the focus of the investigation towards the former escort agency owner.

Nisha, a 'vibrant', 'sociable' officer was happily married, had a loving family and had already been rattled by an attempted burglary at the marital home in Wembley, north London, just a week earlier.

And the 29-year-old, who also owned her own hairdressing business, had chased off the three young men herself – something that hardly surprised her special constable colleagues. 

But a murkier picture soon appeared around the couple's lives – of threats to Nisha's and Fadi's lives, a suspect with a solid alibi and links to organised crime.

Then there was Fadi's hidden affair, escort business, life insurance policy and the one clue that would eventually lead to his carefully concocted web of lies come tumbling down around him.

The nightmare would begin at 11.40pm on May 11, 2006, when Fadi left his wife at home to meet a friend to play a late-night game of snooker.

Moments after he left home, neighbours reported hearing screams coming from the property on Sudbury Avenue as Nisha fled into the street, where she was pursued by a male intruder and stabbed in the leg with her own kitchen knife.

The attack, which severed the artery in her femur, left Nisha bleeding out on the ground. She was taken to hospital but could not be saved and died that night.

As Nisha foughtfor her life, a neighbour phoned Fadi to inform him his wife had been stabbed and he rushed back home. Crucially, phone data confirms he was away from the property at the time of the incident.

DC Paul Webb, assigned as lead detective on the case, focused on a possible break-in, given the attempt the previous week and the fact that a set of house keys were discovered to be missing, prompting a theory the intruders had taken them to gain access to the home. 

'After we learned that there had previously been an attempted break-in at the house, our first line of enquiry was to try to establish whether there was a link to that and her murder,' DC Webb said.

The investigation got into full swing, with house-to-house enquiries turning up a witness who had seen a man fleeing the scene, of possible Afro-Caribbean ethnicity.

But something about a robbery didn't sit right with detectives – a large quantity of cash from Nisha's hairdressing firm, which had been lying in plain sight on the sofa, had not been touched.

And no forced entry meant it was likely her attacker had a key.

It was then that the investigation seemed to land on another, even stronger lead, thanks to Nisha's own husband.

Fadi revealed to officers his wife's life had been threatened by a woman he had rowed with over his limousine hire business.

He had agreed to sell one of his cars to a minicab firm owner based in Glasgow, on the agreement he could borrow it for one more job, he told officers. But when he tried to use it, he said the lady wouldn't let him.

So, he decided to travel all the way to Glasgow – an 800-mile round trip – and steal it back using the spare keys, which he still had.

The woman he sold the vehicle to responded with a series of threats in a recorded rant sent to Fadi's phone, which included: 'If you value your life and your wife's you'll return my f****ing car now.'

In what Fadi might have considered a perfect act of distraction, police found a dead end. They spoke to the woman, and returned to London completely satisfied she had nothing to do with the attack on Nisha.

Attention now returned to the scene on the night of the murder, with officers reviewing CCTV footage from a nearby shop.

They immediately spotted a suspicious silver Audi A4, which pulled up at the scene for just seconds before then leaving. 

Although the number plate was not visible, detectives noticed an unusual bee sting aerial on the back of the car. With just 1,800 cars of the same model and colour, it was hoped this could help ID those responsible.

These breadcrumbs would prove vital after a Crimewatch appeal for information, featuring Nisha's brother and Fadi, which would see police focus on a brand new suspect: her husband. 

DC Paul Webb described how during the programme, 'Fadi came across almost with a bit of a smirk on his face at times.'

In its aftermath, several officers assigned to the case began to push for him to be looked at more closely – and helpfully, they already had access to his phone due to the reported threats.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola said: 'Following the appeal, some of my staff came to me and said they weren't happy with the way Fadi Nasri had come across and thought perhaps he was hiding something.

'We did find it unusual that he would go out and play at twenty to midnight and leave his wife at home.

'But everyone lives their life differently. And Nasri's phone records indicated he was away from the family address the moment Nisha was attacked.'

Indeed Pilesh Patel, Nisha's older brother, said the family were also taken aback by Fadi's demeanour during the interview. 

Mr Patel said: 'Watching his interview, it was very concerning and there were lots of questions that came up in our minds about what had truly happened behind it all.' 

A closer examination of Fadi's phone revealed a photo of another woman's leg, which led to Fadi admit to officers he had been having an affair.

The deeper they dug, the more warning signs they found. Fadi had a previous conviction for dangerous driving which saw him handed a nine-month prison sentence.

He'd also been running an escort agency, which is where he met the woman in the photo, who was Lithuanian.

His business was failing, he was £54,000 in debt and he had taken out a £350,000 life insurance policy on his wife just months before her murder.

All signs now pointed to Fadi having the primary motive for his wife's death – but his alibi greatly undermined the case for his involvement.

For Nisha's family, the revelations were a complete shock.

Pilesh Patel, her older brother said: 'I was devastated. I couldn’t believe that my sister could be with somebody that was involved in that kind of trade. I could only take on board that her love was so much for Fadi that she basically put up with it.'

Meanwhile, detectives found that Fadi had a second phone that he hadn't disclosed. On this device, they discovered increasing contact with a phone belonging to Roger Leslie in the period before the murder.

Leslie, described by Detective Chief Inspector Scola as 'an intimidating looking gangster with studs on his face', had been in touch with Fadi both before and after the attack.

He in turn had contact with nightclub bouncer Tony Emmanuel, who was also known to police for his involvement in the criminal underworld.

In looking into Emmanuel, officers discovered he drove a silver Audi A4 and, when they attended his address, they found it had the same unusual aerial as the vehicle seen in the vicinity of the crime. 

And at interview, after initially denying any involvement, he eventually admitted he was told to drive a man named Jason Jones to the scene, but did not know why.

He told officers Jones left the car for just a few moments, before running back to the vehicle and telling him to drive off. 

Further analysis linked Leslie, Emmanuel and Jones together – and to Fadi, who had stopped answering police questions.

But this didn't matter – police now had enough evidence to demonstrate the seemingly doting husband had orchestrated the entire plot. 

All four men were tried over Nisha's murder. Emmanuel was acquitted, while Jones, Leslie and Fadi Nasri were all convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Her family have told Murder Scene: The Incident Room – Cop Killer, which is set to air on Channel 5, they will never get over her death and the ordeal of the trial.

Mr Patel says he feels guilt over her death and described her as 'very sociable, always wanting to go out with her friends, she was the life and soul of the party people would say'. 

He continued: 'And that's what made Nisha who she was, she had ambition, she was always trying to push the boundary, always trying to do something different from other people. 

'We hadn't spoken in a long long time but she was still my sister and the emotions it was really hard to take. 

'I just felt guilty that I wasn't there for her in her hour of need.'

His wife, Nisha's sister-in-law, Neena, added: 'Nisha as a person was a very vibrant, colourful person, she definitely lit up a room when she came in. She was loud and her presence was known.'

Watch Murder Scene: The Incident Room, airing Wednesday, October 21, 8pm on 5