Drug dealer cleared of killing musician guilty of rival dealer murder

Drug-dealing 19-year-old who helped dispose of jazz trumpeter’s body parts is cleared of killing the musician but convicted of murdering a rival dealer

  • Jazz musician William Algar, 53, was killed and chopped up at west London home
  • Days later drug dealer Ebrima Cham, 35, was also killed in nearby Hounslow
  • A 19-year-old man was charged with both murders and admitted assisting in the disposal of Mr Algar’s body
  • Old Bailey found him not guilty of Mr Algar’s murder but guilty of Mr Cham’s
  • Fellow drug dealers Simon Emmons and Zimele Dube were also convicted of Mr Cham’s murder

A teenager who helped dispose of a talented trumpeter’s body parts has been cleared of his killing but found guilty of murdering a second man.

Accomplished jazz musician William Algar, 53, known as Blaise, was killed and chopped up at his home in Barnes, south-west London, jurors heard.

Days later, drug dealer Ebrima Cham, 35, nicknamed the ‘Brim Reaper’, was also killed in a frenzied attack at a flat in Hounslow, west London.

Following an Old Bailey trial, a 19-year-old man, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found not guilty of Mr Algar’s murder and manslaughter but guilty of Mr Cham’s murder.

He had previously admitted perverting the course of justice by assisting in the disposal of Mr Algar’s body.

The jury, which deliberated for more than 34 hours, had heard the teenager blamed co-defendant Simon Emmons for the killing despite appearing to confess to another man.

A 19-year-old who helped dispose of talented trumpeter William Algar’s body parts has been cleared of his murder and manslaughter

Fellow drug dealers Emmons, 40, of no fixed address, and Zimele Dube, 33, of Hounslow, were convicted of Mr Cham’s murder by a majority of 10 to two.

Emmons and street dealer Janayo Lucima, 19, of Kensington, were also convicted of perverting the course of justice, along with Marc Harding, 45, of Hounslow, who admitted the charge.

Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said the attack on Mr Algar was ‘of extraordinary viciousness beyond anger’.

He told jurors it was ‘frenzied’ and ‘the work of borderline psychopathic proportions’.

Mr Algar was described in court as a ‘good guy’ who had a lot of interests and ‘did not have a harmful bone in his body’.

But following an Old Bailey trial, the teenager, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was  along with two co-defendants found guilty of rival drug dealer Ebrima Cham’s (pictured) murder in nearby Hounslow

He suffered from mental health problems and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

His life spiralled down after he began using and dealing class A drugs and his home was taken over by other dealers in what is known as a ‘cuckoo’ house.

Jurors heard that before his death around December 1 2019, he had fallen out with the 19-year-old unnamed defendant over money.

It was alleged that the defendant, described as a drug-dealing gangster, had bullied Mr Algar and threatened to kill his cat, which was never found.

Following Mr Algar’s death, the defendant held a meeting on December 16 with Emmons and Lucima to decide what to do about the body, the court heard.

The Old Bailey heard the clean-up operation and disposal of Mr Algar’s body was interrupted by the impromptu decision to attack Mr Cham, who was reputed to rob other dealers of cash and drugs. On January 3 2020, Mr Algar’s head and torso were discovered by police at his home (pictured) after his mother raised the alarm

Early the next day, Emmons’ phone was allegedly used to research dissolving a body in acid, like a plot from the Breaking Bad television series.

Lucima bought cleaning products at Tesco, and over the next couple of days Mr Algar was dismembered and his limbs were dumped on Hounslow Heath.

The clean-up operation was interrupted by the impromptu decision to attack Mr Cham, who was reputed to rob other dealers of cash and drugs, jurors heard.

Emmons, Dube and the unidentified 19-year-old travelled to Mr Cham’s home where he was stabbed 11 times in a ‘ferocious and frenzied attack’, Mr Aylett said.

On January 3 2020, Mr Algar’s head and torso were discovered by police at his home.

The victim’s elderly mother had raised the alarm after he failed to keep in touch with her over Christmas.

Mr Aylett said: ‘All of the events that take place in this case both in relation to Mr Algar and in respect of Mr Cham take place in the context of the lucrative and lawless world of class A drug dealing.

‘The drug-dealing world is one of rivalries, robberies and turf wars.

‘And when drug dealers fall out, they do not take their problems to the police.

‘Instead, they take things into their own hands – usually with violence and often ending in either death or serious injury.’

The 19-year-old unnamed defendant denied the murders and claimed he saw Emmons chopping Mr Algar’s legs off with a Rambo knife.

He admitted going to the house to clean up, but denied plotting to use a Breaking Bad-inspired acid bath to dispose of the body.

He dismissed alleged confessions as merely boastful talk.

In his evidence, Emmons dismissed the 19-year-old’s claim he confessed to the killings and said the allegation he was involved in the clean-up was ‘fantasy talk’.

The defendants were remanded into custody and will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on July 23.

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