Adam (unsolved Thames Murder Case)
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"Adam" was the name police gave to an unidentified male child whose
torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical terminology, anatomical term for the central part, or the core (anatomy), core, of the body (biology), body of many animals (including human beings), from which the head, neck, limb (anatomy), limbs, tail an ...
was discovered in the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, United Kingdom, on 21 September 2001. Investigators believe the child was likely from southwestern
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, and that several days before his murder, he was trafficked to the United Kingdom for a muti ritual sacrifice. To date, nobody has been charged with Adam's murder, and his true identity remains unknown.


Background

On 21 September 2001, the torso of a young boy was discovered in the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
, near
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...
in central
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Dubbed "Adam" by police officers, the unidentified remains belonged to a
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
male, around four to eight years old, who had been wearing orange girls' shorts. The
post-mortem An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death ...
showed that Adam had been
poisoned Poisoning is the harmful effect which occurs when toxic substances are introduced into the body. The term "poisoning" is a derivative of poison, a term describing any chemical substance that may harm or kill a living organism upon ingestion. ...
, his throat had been slit to drain the blood from his body, and his head and limbs had been expertly removed. Further forensic testing examined his stomach contents and trace minerals in his bones to establish that Adam had only been in the United Kingdom for a few days or weeks before he was murdered, and that he likely came from a region of southwestern Nigeria near
Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...
known as the birthplace of
voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * West African Vodún, a religion practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...
. This evidence led investigators to suspect that Adam was trafficked to Britain specifically for a muti killing, a ritual sacrifice performed by a
witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor), or witchcraft doctor, is a kind of magical healer who treats ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is often misunderstood, and they could more accurately be called "anti-witch doctors ...
that uses a child's body parts to make medicinal potions called "muti".


Investigation

Unable to find a match for Adam in databases of missing children in Britain and Europe, investigators made requests to the public for assistance. However, the story initially only received moderate publicity, due its proximity to the
September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. In the UK, coverage and interest in the case increased over the next year, and rewards were offered for information leading to the killers' conviction, or to Adam's identification. However, the story had not yet received much publicity in Nigeria. When the investigation had reached an impasse in 2002, London officials flew to
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
, where
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
,
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winner and former
President of South Africa The president of South Africa is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of South Africa. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the South African National Defence F ...
, made a public appeal requesting any information that might be relevant to help the police in London identify Adam. Mandela's appeal was broadcast all over
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
and translated into many languages, including Yoruba, the local language in the region that investigators linked to Adam. In 2003, London Metropolitan police travelled to South Africa to consult detectives and muti experts of the SAPS. The experts suggested that the orange shorts meant Adam was related to his killers. In Muti rituals, the colour red is the colour of resurrection: accordingly at least one of Adam's killers was related to him, and was trying to apologise to his soul, praying that he might rise again. The police subsequently travelled to Nigeria and launched a campaign to track Adam's parents. Despite visiting elementary schools and looking at reported missing children in the region, there was no success.


Developments

On 29 March 2011, it was reported that the torso was that of a 6-year-old named Ikpomwosa, after a television crew managed to track down a woman who used to care for him in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, due to his parents being deported back to Nigeria. Joyce Osiagede, a mother of two, had told ITV's ''London Tonight'' that she handed the 6-year-old to a man—reportedly named Bawa—who proceeded to take the child to London. Detectives said that this was a "major breakthrough". In February 2013, the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
was contacted by Osiagede, who declared that she was prepared to tell them everything she knew about the boy. Osiagede revealed that Adam's real name was in fact Patrick Erhabor, and not Ikpomwosa. She also identified Bawa as Kingsley Ojo, and said that she had wrongly identified a photograph that had been circulating in the press as Patrick, when it was in fact of a friend's living son. However, police doubts about her mental state meant that these claims are doubted by detectives, and thus, Adam has never been formally identified. The Metropolitan Police believe the publicity surrounding the case has acted as a deterrent for further ritual crimes in the United Kingdom.


Linked cases

In July 2002, a Nigerian woman arrived in the United Kingdom from Germany, claiming to have fled from a Yoruba cult that practised ritual murders. She claimed that they attempted to kill her son, and that she knew Adam was murdered in London by his parents. However, police searching her flat found orange shorts with the same clothing label as those found on Adam. In December 2002, she was deported back to Nigeria. Surveillance of the woman's associates brought the police to another Nigerian, a man named Kingsley Ojo. Searches of Ojo's house found a series of ritual items, but none of the DNA on the items matched Adam's DNA. In July 2004, Ojo was charged with child trafficking offences, and jailed for four years.


See also

* Murder of Masego Kgomo * Witchcraft accusations against children in Africa


References


Further reading

*Foix, Alain, ''Vénus et Adam''. Paris, Galaade éditions, 2007. . *Sanders, Todd 2003. "Imagining the Dark Continent: the Met, the media and the Thames Torso". ''Cambridge Anthropology'' 23(3), 53–66. *


External links


"Boys 'used for human sacrifice'"
BBC, 16 June 2005
The torso in the Thames: A 20-year mystery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam 1990s births 2001 deaths 2001 in London 2001 murders in the United Kingdom Crimes involving Satanism or the occult Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown History of the River Thames Child sacrifice victims Incidents of violence against boys London crime history Murdered English children Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown Unidentified murder victims in the United Kingdom Unsolved murders in London