A CARETAKER who dumped the body of a missing woman he murdered in a bin where she was “incinerated” has been jailed.
Maureen Gitau, 24, was last seen leaving her home in Deptford, South East London, after celebrating her aunt’s birthday.
PAMaureen’s body still hasn’t been found despite a huge search[/caption]
PAMark Moodie has been jailed for life[/caption]
PAHe was seen on CCTV moving a bin around[/caption]
She told her family she was going to meet Mark Moodie, a caretaker she had grown close to while working at the Oval cricket ground.
The killer took Maureen to a block of flats where he worked but she never left the building alive.
No trace of her has ever been found amid fears she was incinerated along with rubbish at a plant.
Moodie has now been jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years after being convicted of murder.
In an emotional victim impact statement, Maureen’s mum branded the killer a “coward and a cold-hearted murderer”.
The Old Bailey was told Moodie dumped Maureen’s body in the bin and covered her with trash.
The 55-year-old was captured on CCTV moving a large communal waste bin around the basement of Richmond House in Deptford.
This rubbish was collected a few days later and taken to a processing plant where she would have been “inevitably” incinerated”.
Police launched a huge search – trawling through 500 hours of CCTV from doorbells, buses and shops.
They also sifted through 2,750 tonnes of waste that was delivered to a site in Essex by 125 trucks.
This involved 60 officers each day – totalling 20,000 search hours.
Despite the mammoth search, Maureen’s body has still not been found.
Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn, said: “My thoughts today are with Maureen’s family, who have been cruelly prevented from putting a much loved daughter, sister, niece and cousin to rest. I am glad we have, been able to bring to justice the man responsible for her death
“Mark Moodie murdered Maureen and then disposed of her body. He has never admitted any responsibility and told lie after lie after lie.
“He is a contemptible individual and I am glad the jury has seen through his deceit and found him guilty or Maureen’s murder.
“My team spent many months investigating Maureen’s murder, their professionalism and dedication is just one example of the Met’s determination to bring killers to justice.
“Once we realised how Moodie had disposed of Maureen’s body, we carried out one of the largest searches of waste the Met has ever seen.
“We were desperate to find her, for the sake of her family, and it will always be a regret that she was gone by the time we understood what Moodie had done with her body.”
PAMaureen is believed to have been incinerated at a rubbish plant[/caption]
The pair were seen at Richmond House where he dumped her body
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