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Britains Most Evil Killers - Season 10 - Episode 01: Lakhvir Singh
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00:13In January 2009, a man in West London made a panicked 999 call.
00:20Someone's reporting me now, too.
00:24You think your ex-girlfriend's done it?
00:26Yeah.
00:27Hours later, the caller Lucky Chima was dead.
00:32Alarm bells rang for medics who suspected foul play.
00:37People don't just die, not from these symptoms,
00:41and it was something that the nurses and doctors had never seen before.
00:46In a highly unusual investigation, detectives uncovered a love triangle
00:51as toxic as the poison that had killed Lucky Chima.
00:56Lucky's former lover, Lakvya, couldn't bear the thought that he was going to marry someone else.
01:02She was jealous and obsessively jealous.
01:07In an impotent rage, Lakvya Singh chose a particularly cruel death for the man she claimed to love.
01:14Your mind knows that your body is closing down and collapsing around you,
01:20and you are dying an agonising death.
01:23Devastated at losing her long-time lover,
01:26Lakvya Singh planned to stop Lucky Chima finding happiness with anyone else.
01:32She expected to get away with murder,
01:35but was finally exposed as one of Britain's most evil killers.
02:04When a previously healthy couple fell dangerously ill in West London,
02:09in 2009, medics knew immediately that something unusual had happened.
02:15We had all these different things that we were considering.
02:18Is it poisoning?
02:19Is it contamination within the food chain?
02:25The police had to go to DEFRA, the Health Protection Agency,
02:29and even the botanists at Kew Gardens.
02:32Eventually, the clues led to a conclusion.
02:36The couple had been poisoned with Indian aconite,
02:38a perennial plant which is the source of one of nature's most dangerous poisons.
02:44It's an exceptionally unusual poison in this country.
02:48The last case of aconite poisoning was in 1882.
02:53Never since.
02:54And poisoning, in any event, is pretty unusual in this country in homicide cases.
03:00By using this rare toxin,
03:03had Lakvir Singh gambled on getting away with murder?
03:07Until relatively recently, in, say, the last 30 years,
03:11you couldn't analyse for it.
03:14So, previously, we were very much dependent on, one,
03:19a high concentration being present,
03:21real knowledge that it was that particular one,
03:24so you knew what you were looking for when you started out.
03:29So, those advances enable us now to identify toxins
03:34at a much, much lower concentration.
03:39Lakvir Singh had woven what must have seemed like an ingenious plot.
03:44She'd not reckoned on the tenacity of London's homicide detectives.
03:51This killer's story begins in the Punjab region of north-western India
03:56in October 1964.
04:01We don't know a lot about her background.
04:03She came to this country,
04:06and in July 1985,
04:08Lakvir had an arranged marriage,
04:10and she and her husband lived in Southall.
04:16Singh worked for a catering company,
04:18in Heathrow,
04:20which was very close to Southall,
04:22and was a major local business.
04:26The couple had three children together,
04:28but I don't think it was a particularly happy marriage.
04:34Singh was caring for her husband because he had cancer,
04:37and on occasions he actually went to India for treatment.
04:44In 1993, a new lodger brought some light
04:49into 28-year-old Lakvir Singh's otherwise difficult life.
04:54Lakfinder Chima was known as Lucky.
04:56That was his nickname.
04:58His sister was married to Singh's brother.
05:02Lucky Chima arrived in England in his early 20s.
05:07At that point, he was already married.
05:09His marriage had failed,
05:11and so suddenly he needed somewhere to stay.
05:15And he moved in with Lakvir Singh and a husband
05:18as their tenant,
05:20as a lodger in their house in Southall.
05:25Lucky worked for Rent-A-Kill,
05:27and he was described as a model work colleague.
05:32His colleagues thought he was always smiling,
05:34he was well-known,
05:35he was a popular bloke to work with.
05:3723-year-old Lucky Chima's charms
05:40were not lost on his new landlady, Lakvir Singh.
05:46From the moment he arrived,
05:48our understanding was that he formed
05:50a sexual relationship with Singh,
05:52and that carried on for at least 15 years.
05:58He was quite charming, quite charismatic.
06:01She was probably quite vulnerable in a lot of ways.
06:04You could see how that situation might happen.
06:10Clearly, Lakvir had very, very strong feelings for Lucky.
06:15And I think Lucky had probably convinced her
06:19that they would probably have a future together.
06:23It was a dangerous game to play
06:26in the close-knit West London community.
06:29I'm sure Singh felt trapped
06:31in this unhappy marriage with her husband
06:34when Lucky was really the light of her life
06:37and really the only person she really loved.
06:45Around 2006, Lucky moved into his own home
06:49six miles from Southall.
06:52He bought a four-bedroom property in Feltham.
06:56He occupied the ground floor of that house
07:00and rented out the other rooms,
07:02the upstairs rooms to tenants.
07:05And they had shared facilities,
07:07so they all shared the facilities of the kitchen.
07:12Lucky's tenants soon became familiar
07:14with his attentive friend, Lakvir Singh.
07:20To all intents and purposes,
07:21it's like as if they were married
07:23because she would turn up and do all of the cooking
07:25and the washing and the tidying up.
07:26And I suspect that when she did that at Lucky's home,
07:29she'd go and do the same thing at her home.
07:36Lucky sent to Lakvir on her birthday
07:38in October 2008,
07:40you be my loved and I will give you all my love.
07:46The affair had, by this time,
07:49become an open secret among Lakvir Singh
07:51and Lucky Cheema's loved ones.
07:54It was a very unhappy relationship culturally,
07:59both for her family and for his family.
08:02In the autumn of 2008,
08:0615 years into their illicit affair,
08:08this uneasy equilibrium was shattered
08:11when 39-year-old Lucky began looking to the future.
08:16On the 18th of October 2008,
08:18Lucky Cheema met a young woman
08:20at a local Sikh temple in Selthor.
08:25Gurgit had come to the United Kingdom in 2008.
08:28She came here illegally,
08:31got a false passport.
08:34Gurgit was much younger than Lucky.
08:36She was 21 years old.
08:42She was introduced to Lucky
08:45with a view to then being married.
08:53And they plainly got on.
08:59They came quickly, I believe,
09:02to love each other.
09:03They appeared very happy together.
09:06News of the courting couple's plans
09:09came as a shock to Lakvir Singh.
09:12By the 2nd of November 2008,
09:16so really just within a few weeks
09:17of their first meeting,
09:19their engagement was announced.
09:24Lucky told Singh
09:25that he wanted to start a relationship
09:27with someone else
09:28and have children.
09:31Singh reacted with absolute fury
09:34to this devastating blow to her plans.
09:37She started texting Lucky
09:38with threatening messages
09:41saying that she was going to come
09:42and burn his house down.
09:45She was absolutely furious
09:47by what she clearly saw
09:49was an absolute betrayal.
09:51She was obviously devastated,
09:54angry, hurt,
09:55sort of a mixture of pleading with him
09:57to come back
09:58and being abusive to him around,
10:00how could you treat me like this?
10:03Lucky Chima did not make a clean break
10:06with his long-term lover.
10:08Lucky, in fact,
10:09had kept Singh's hopes up.
10:12He even sent her a text
10:13saying,
10:14I live for the moment
10:15where you can see each other in a dream.
10:18While telling Gurjeet
10:19that his affair with Singh
10:21had been over for years,
10:23Lucky continued to see
10:24his secret lover.
10:26Even though he was saying
10:27he wanted to form a relationship
10:29with Gurjeet,
10:30he was still having
10:30a sexual relationship
10:31with Singh at the same time.
10:32And he was expressing
10:34his love for her
10:35and that the two of them
10:36would always be together.
10:40In November 2008,
10:43as Lucky and Gurjeet
10:44made plans,
10:45Lakshir Singh
10:46attended a family event
10:48in India.
10:49There she found a solution
10:50to her situation,
10:52one that she hoped
10:53would blow any wedding plans
10:55out of the water.
11:08In late November 2008,
11:1144-year-old Lakshir Singh
11:13returned to the UK
11:15from India,
11:16determined to drive a wedge
11:18between 39-year-old Lucky Chima
11:20and his new fiancée, Gurjeet.
11:23Singh was saying to him,
11:25look,
11:25you don't really want
11:26to be going out
11:26with this woman.
11:27Because she's illegal
11:29in the country
11:30and all she basically wants
11:32is a passport.
11:33Singh's attempts
11:34to sour the relationship
11:36fell on deaf ears.
11:38In early December,
11:40Gurjeet and Lucky
11:41give details
11:43of when they're going
11:44to get married,
11:45the following February.
11:50To add insult to injury,
11:54Lucky and Gurjeet
11:56decided to get married
11:57on Valentine's Day 2009,
12:00which simply rubbed salt
12:02into the wounds
12:03of Lakshir Singh.
12:09A few days after announcing
12:11their wedding plans,
12:13Lucky fell gravely ill.
12:16Lucky had had a period
12:18of sickness
12:19that had come on quite quickly,
12:23hadn't been fully diagnosed,
12:26but he had had several days
12:28of really quite extreme,
12:30what was probably put down to
12:33either food poisoning
12:35or gastroenteritis.
12:37Singh attends almost every day
12:40to visit him in hospital.
12:42And during that time,
12:44she's still trying to convince him
12:45that he shouldn't get married
12:47to Gurjeet.
12:50I think Gurjeet realised
12:52that the relationship
12:53with Singh was still continuing.
12:56So she took Singh aside
12:58to try and warn her off
13:00and basically told her,
13:02look, forget it.
13:03He's my man now.
13:08In response,
13:09Singh dropped a bombshell
13:11that she hoped
13:11might put 21-year-old Gurjeet
13:14off for good.
13:15She told Gurjeet
13:17she'd become pregnant
13:18on at least two occasions
13:20and Lucky apparently
13:22wanted her to have abortions.
13:25She was trying everything
13:27to claw the relationship back,
13:28panicking in this state of chaos.
13:34She even threw in threats,
13:36serious threats,
13:37threats of arson,
13:39threats of harm to him.
13:40But this isn't,
13:41this is not unusual
13:43in a situation like this
13:45where the person
13:46is actually escalating
13:48and becoming more
13:49and more dangerous.
13:52Lucky spent two or three days
13:53in hospital
13:54feeling pretty ill
13:55but thought perhaps
13:57nothing of it at the time,
13:58perhaps food poisoning.
14:03After he's released
14:04from hospital,
14:05we know that this is
14:07almost close to Christmas
14:08and you'd have thought
14:08that he would be
14:09with Gurjeet
14:10during this period
14:11but completely the opposite.
14:13He spends the entire Christmas
14:15with Singh.
14:17It just goes to show you
14:18the level of control
14:19to some degree
14:20that Singh had
14:21over Lucky.
14:23Despite his mixed messages,
14:25Lucky's wedding planning
14:27continued
14:27and in January 2009,
14:30Gurjeet started spending
14:32the odd night with him
14:33at his home in Feltham.
14:35When you got to January 2009,
14:38his attitude to Latver changed.
14:42Notably,
14:42he stopped sleeping with her.
14:48On the 27th of January,
14:51with less than three weeks
14:52to go until their marriage,
14:54Lucky and Gurjeet
14:55shared a meal
14:56in the kitchen
14:57of Lucky's home.
15:01Gurjeet and Lucky
15:03were discussing
15:05their wedding plans.
15:06But the couple
15:07would never get
15:08to share their vows.
15:10Just a few hours later,
15:11Gurjeet was seriously ill
15:13and Lucky Chima
15:15was dead.
15:16Lucky had presented himself
15:18at the hospital
15:19along with Gurjeet.
15:22Gurjeet was immediately
15:23put into an induced coma
15:25because she was so ill.
15:27The doctors tried
15:28to revive Lucky,
15:30but he died
15:31at about half past two
15:32in the morning.
15:34Medics had no idea
15:35what had struck down
15:37the previously healthy couple,
15:38but in his final breaths,
15:41Lucky Chima
15:42had given them
15:43a major clue.
15:44In the hour
15:46that he was alive
15:47between arriving
15:48at the hospital
15:48and he's finally dying,
15:51Lucky was able
15:52to whisper to doctors,
15:54it was my ex-girlfriend.
16:01So on the 28th of January 2009,
16:05the police were alerted
16:07by Middlesex Hospital
16:09of a very suspicious incident
16:12whereby relatively healthy male
16:14had died
16:15with very shocking
16:17and sudden symptoms.
16:20DCI Howard Groves
16:23led the Metropolitan Police
16:24homicide team
16:25that took the call
16:27from West Middlesex Hospital.
16:29My team at that point
16:30decided that we would
16:31treat it as a murder investigation
16:34and then that would allow us
16:36to establish the facts.
16:40The homicide command
16:41would have sent
16:43an initial response team
16:45to attend the hospital,
16:47obviously to speak
16:47to the doctors concerned.
16:49The sister and nephews
16:51of the deceased
16:52had actually taken him
16:53to hospital.
16:54so they were
16:55key witnesses
16:56who could explain
16:57to the hospital
16:58and us
16:59exactly what
17:00had been happening.
17:01The team also reviewed
17:03a 999 call
17:05made by Lucky Chima
17:06the previous evening.
17:08OK, is your girlfriend
17:09conscious?
17:11Yes.
17:13Is she awake?
17:14Yes, she's like me.
17:18But we are very worried
17:19because...
17:20OK, so what makes you think
17:21somebody poisoned
17:22your food?
17:25Because
17:26she's on my ex
17:2712 times.
17:28She's seen
17:2812 years in my house.
17:30You think
17:31your ex-girlfriend's
17:32done it?
17:34Yes.
17:42Detectives
17:42looked into the meal
17:43the couple
17:44had been sharing
17:45shortly before
17:46Lucky made the call.
17:50It was actually
17:51a curry
17:52that Gurji
17:53had made
17:56and they'd eaten
17:57that meal
17:57the night before
17:58where there was
17:59quite a significant
18:00amount of leftovers
18:01which had been put
18:02into a Tupperware pot
18:03and which they had put
18:04on Lucky's shelf
18:06in the fridge.
18:10Gurji
18:11hadn't been well
18:12and she didn't really
18:13want to eat very much.
18:14Lucky, on the other hand,
18:15had been working hard
18:16and was ravenous.
18:19He ate two portions
18:21of the curry
18:22while she ate
18:23very little.
18:24It was a decision
18:25that was to cost him
18:26his life.
18:31About an hour,
18:33hour and a half
18:33after eating
18:34their dinner,
18:35he started feeling
18:37extremely unwell.
18:41He had violent
18:42vomiting,
18:43he described how
18:44his sight was going,
18:45everything became dark,
18:47he couldn't feel
18:48his hands,
18:48his legs,
18:49he said he couldn't
18:50even feel his tongue
18:51when he was holding it
18:52and he couldn't
18:53stand up straight,
18:55he had to support himself.
18:57This was very,
18:58very frightening.
19:02He deteriorated quickly
19:03and was in
19:05very significant pain.
19:09Gurji decided
19:10that she was going
19:11to have a shower
19:11and by the time
19:13she came back down,
19:15his condition
19:16had worsened
19:17and now she was beginning
19:18to feel similar symptoms.
19:23They called 999,
19:25the operator
19:26speaks to Lucky
19:27and asks whether
19:28or not he had
19:29got food poisoning
19:30and he said,
19:31no,
19:31I have been poisoned.
19:33Someone put poison
19:34in your food.
19:37Why would someone
19:38put poison
19:39in your food?
19:42Clearly he
19:43was acutely aware
19:45that something
19:46quite serious
19:47had probably happened
19:48to both of them.
19:50He also phoned
19:51his sister
19:52who lived
19:53very close by
19:55because he was
19:56really panicking.
19:59And the family
20:00came around,
20:01in fact,
20:01before the emergency
20:03services were
20:03due to be there.
20:06He was carried out
20:08and it was him
20:08being taken
20:09to a car
20:10of a nephew
20:11that was just
20:13caught on CCTV.
20:16he was obviously
20:17in really
20:18significant distress,
20:20in very significant
20:21pain,
20:22in and out
20:23of consciousness.
20:25Goujit
20:26was also ill.
20:27She herself
20:28has described
20:29how she started,
20:30her eyes started
20:31to go completely,
20:33her tummy was hurting,
20:34she couldn't stand
20:35up properly
20:36and she too
20:37was bundled
20:38into the car
20:38to take her
20:39off to hospital.
20:41And she described
20:42how she was
20:44trying to reach
20:44out her hand
20:45to hold Lucky's hand
20:46and she couldn't
20:47move her hands
20:48because of the
20:49paralysis.
20:52The car
20:53taking Lucky
20:54screeched to a halt
20:55outside West Middlesex
20:56Hospital
20:57and Lucky
20:58was rushed inside.
21:00but there was
21:01nothing they
21:01could do.
21:03And within
21:04an hour
21:05of arriving
21:06at the hospital
21:06Lucky was dead.
21:09Goujit
21:10by now
21:10was also
21:12in a very,
21:13very poorly
21:13condition
21:14and she was
21:15actually placed
21:16into a coma.
21:20With one patient
21:22dead
21:22and another's
21:23life in the
21:24balance,
21:24medics faced
21:25a race against
21:26time to discover
21:27what deadly
21:28illness had
21:29befallen
21:29the betrothed
21:30couple.
21:31She may have
21:32lost her fiancé
21:33but could
21:33Goujit's life
21:34be saved?
21:46On the 28th
21:48of January
21:492009,
21:50the Met Police's
21:52homicide unit
21:53launched an
21:53investigation
21:54into the highly
21:56unusual death
21:57of Lakvinda
21:57Lucky Chima,
21:58who died in
22:00agony at a
22:01West London
22:01hospital.
22:04When
22:05Lucky arrived
22:06at the hospital
22:06he was adamant
22:07that he had
22:07been poisoned.
22:10I took the
22:11view that we
22:12had to treat it
22:13as if it was
22:14a poisoning.
22:15We couldn't
22:16say to ourselves
22:16we'll wait for
22:17the post-mortem
22:17and see what
22:18happens next.
22:21We rarely
22:22dealt with
22:23cases of
22:24poisoning.
22:24our general
22:26day-to-day
22:27murders would
22:28be shootings,
22:30stabbings,
22:31gangland-type
22:32killings.
22:33So this really
22:34stood out
22:35as an unusual
22:36case and
22:37certainly one
22:39that I had never
22:39dealt with in the
22:40past.
22:41Unused to
22:42treating poisoning
22:43of this
22:43intensity,
22:45medics wondered
22:45if they were
22:46dealing with
22:47some kind of
22:47biological or
22:49chemical weapon.
22:51There were a
22:52lot of concerns
22:53that there was
22:54potentially cyanide
22:55poisoning involved.
22:56So it was
22:57treated incredibly
22:58seriously and
22:59in terms of
23:00the deceased
23:01body, that was
23:02put into a
23:02sealed room and
23:03everyone had to
23:05wear specialist
23:06protective equipment,
23:08specialist breathing
23:09equipment because
23:10obviously if it had
23:11been cyanide,
23:12that is incredibly,
23:13incredibly dangerous.
23:19While murder was
23:21one scenario for
23:22detectives to
23:23consider, they
23:24also had to find
23:25out if there was
23:26another explanation,
23:27contamination in the
23:29food chain that
23:30could have caused
23:31Lucky's death and
23:32which might strike
23:33another innocent
23:34victim at any
23:35moment.
23:36We decided to
23:37contact the
23:37Department of
23:38Environmental, Food
23:40and Rural Affairs,
23:41DEFRA, because
23:44they have the
23:45knowledge and
23:46expertise to look
23:47at food and its
23:48production and
23:49they said to us
23:50that they didn't
23:50have any records
23:52of anyone presenting
23:54themselves to the
23:54hospitals throughout
23:55the UK in the
23:56last 72 hours with
23:58any similar
23:58symptoms.
24:01With the ball
24:02back in their
24:03court, the police
24:04faced the urgent
24:05challenge of
24:06identifying what
24:07the poison could
24:08be.
24:09As Gajit
24:10continued fighting
24:11for her life,
24:12knowledge of the
24:13substance could
24:14help the medics
24:15trying to save
24:16her.
24:17The agency that
24:18we were advised
24:19to contact was the
24:20Health Protection
24:21Agency.
24:21They had the
24:22necessary expertise
24:24to be able to
24:25attend Lucky's
24:26home in hazmat
24:27suits and they
24:29retrieved the
24:30Tupperware that
24:31the remains of
24:33some of the meal
24:33that was consumed.
24:35While analysis
24:36began on the
24:37remnants of the
24:38curry, police
24:39officers had to
24:40act on Lucky
24:41Cheema's suspicions
24:42about his former
24:43lover, Lakvir
24:45Singh.
24:45On Wednesday
24:46the 28th, Singh
24:47was arrested.
24:49She was arrested
24:50on suspicion of
24:52the murder of Lucky
24:53and also at that
24:55point the attempted
24:55murder of Gajit.
24:59When the police
25:00arrived at Singh's
25:01house, far from
25:03being angry or
25:04involved or
25:05emotional, she was
25:07very calm and
25:08collected, made out
25:10that she had no
25:11idea what they were
25:12there for.
25:14Clearly by this
25:15stage, Singh knew
25:16that Lucky was
25:17dead.
25:20This was the man
25:21she had loved, the
25:22one love in her life
25:23and had been in a
25:24relationship for
25:2516 years.
25:26And here she was
25:28giving a very calm,
25:29composed response to
25:31the arrival of the
25:32police and for the
25:33fact that she was
25:33being arrested.
25:38Lakvir Singh was
25:39not the only person
25:40of interest for
25:41police.
25:42Another relative, a
25:44man with ties to
25:45both Singh and
25:46Lucky, was also
25:47taken in for
25:48questioning.
25:50On the day of the
25:52poisoning of Gajit,
25:53and Lucky, a
25:57family member had
25:58actually attended
25:59Lucky's address and
26:01spoken to Gajit.
26:04He had threatened
26:05Lucky that very
26:08day, the shame he
26:10was bringing on the
26:11wider family.
26:13But even as police
26:14questioned this man,
26:16their colleagues were
26:17uncovering evidence
26:18that he was not the
26:20likely assailant.
26:21At the time of Singh's
26:23arrest, a search was
26:24conducted at her
26:25address, and the
26:27officers recovered from
26:28a coat that she had
26:30hanging over the
26:30banister, a brown
26:32substance.
26:33And not only did they
26:34find a brown substance
26:35in a plastic bag, they
26:37also found something
26:38similar in a handbag.
26:40Suspecting this unknown
26:42substance could be linked
26:43with Lucky's death and
26:45Gajit's perilous condition,
26:47it was imperative
26:48detectives find out what
26:50it was.
26:52The first thing that the
26:53police did was to
26:54confront Singh and say,
26:57what is this brown
26:57powder?
26:58And she acted
26:59completely nonchalantly
27:00and said, oh, that's
27:01nothing, that's a bit of
27:02herbal stuff that I have
27:03for a neck rash.
27:06My colleagues were not
27:08happy with that and
27:09actually explained and
27:10said, look, someone has
27:11died and there's someone
27:12very seriously ill in
27:14hospital.
27:16If the doctors knew
27:18exactly what was in that
27:19bag, then they could have
27:21come up with a solution as
27:22to how they were going to
27:23treat Gajit.
27:26We knew more than likely it
27:28was a poison, but there
27:29are hundreds and thousands
27:30of different poisons.
27:31But she wouldn't tell us
27:33exactly what it was.
27:34It's not clear whether
27:36Singh intended Gajit to
27:39die as well.
27:40And it's quite possible
27:42that she saw her as
27:43irrelevant and that if she
27:46does, it's all good.
27:46If she doesn't, it doesn't
27:47matter because he'll be
27:48dead anyway and she can't
27:50have him.
27:54Still none the wiser,
27:56investigators hope Lucky
27:58Chima's post-mortem might
28:00reveal some answers about
28:01what had killed him.
28:03I remember personally
28:05being at the post-mortem
28:06that was conducted by a
28:08very eminent pathologist.
28:10And I remember that he
28:11received sort of sealed
28:13instructions, I think,
28:15from something like
28:16Portland Down, of how to
28:18deal with the potential
28:19cyanide poisoning.
28:20And we all had to wear
28:21sort of chemical, protective
28:24overalls, breathing
28:25apparatus.
28:26It's the only time that's
28:27I've ever had to do that
28:29at a post-mortem.
28:31There were multiple samples
28:33taken from Lucky's body
28:35and that would have
28:36included, you know,
28:37stomach contents, blood,
28:39urine, hair, you know,
28:41everything that could
28:42possibly be tested to give
28:45an indication of what he
28:47had ingested and what had
28:49caused his death.
28:50The post-mortem was
28:51inconclusive.
28:52While detectives awaited
28:55the results of toxicology
28:56tests on Lucky's blood
28:58and stomach contents,
29:00time was running out to
29:01hold Lakvir Singh on
29:03suspicion of Lucky's
29:04murder.
29:05They needed to establish a
29:07link between the spurned
29:09lover and Lucky's
29:10sudden illness.
29:12The police were able to
29:13put together some of the
29:15events leading up to his
29:17death.
29:17The tenants living in
29:19Lucky's home were key
29:20witnesses to the events
29:22of that day.
29:23On the 27th of January,
29:25around about 10.30 in the
29:27morning, Singh went to
29:29Lucky's house.
29:31She knocked on the door
29:34and she was allowed entry
29:36by one of the other
29:37tenants who lived in one
29:39of the upstairs bedrooms.
29:40There was nothing unusual
29:42about this whatsoever.
29:44She was a regular visitor
29:45to the house.
29:48Gurdjit was actually
29:49staying at Lucky's
29:51home at that point
29:52and she wasn't feeling
29:53well and had spent
29:55most of the day
29:56sleeping.
29:59The tenants that were
30:00in the address were all
30:01sitting in the kitchen
30:02chatting.
30:04Singh went straight to the
30:05fridge, opened the door
30:07and with her back to them
30:08she took out an item
30:10from the fridge.
30:11They couldn't see what
30:12she was doing.
30:15She knew about Lucky's
30:17habits, whereabouts in the
30:20address he lived, which part
30:22of the refrigerator he used
30:24for his food.
30:28She, of all people, would
30:30have known where the curry to
30:33be consumed by him was going
30:35to be in the fridge.
30:37She then closed it up and put
30:39it back in the fridge, had a
30:41little, I had a little chat
30:42with them and then left.
30:43Now, for the tenants, that
30:46didn't raise any alarms.
30:49We know that when Lucky came
30:51home and he was told that she
30:52had turned up, he actually did
30:54something which was quite
30:55strange.
30:56He changed the locks on the
30:57back door and the front door,
30:58which would indicate he didn't
30:59want her there.
31:02At that point, I think Lucky
31:04must have been feeling actually
31:07very, very uneasy about the
31:10relationship and how it had
31:11broken down and how it was
31:13actually affecting Singh.
31:16Having decided to get the
31:17locks changed, he phoned Singh
31:20in a fury to demand an answer
31:22to, what were you doing in my
31:23house?
31:25And she just told him, we're
31:27coming to get you.
31:29And me and five other men,
31:32which, of course, only added
31:34to the sense of fear and
31:36trepidation that Lucky had.
31:38What on earth was Singh going to
31:39do next?
31:41Singh made some very serious
31:44threats and I think Lucky was
31:46probably stuck between being
31:48really quite frightened of her and
31:51what she might do, but also how
31:55was he going to tell anyone?
31:57How was he actually going to deal
31:59with this?
32:00Detectives had quickly built a
32:02picture of an obsessive,
32:04threatening ex who'd been seen
32:06acting oddly in Lucky Chima's
32:08home the day he and Gajit
32:11mysteriously fell ill.
32:13But they still didn't know for
32:14sure that they'd been poisoned or
32:17indeed what with.
32:19It was a circumstantial case.
32:22We didn't have an eyewitness here.
32:23After two days, Gajit began to
32:26show signs of recovery.
32:28Her testimony would help police
32:30build a better picture of the
32:32toxic love triangle.
32:34But could the police really prove
32:36beyond reasonable doubt that
32:38mother of three Lakvya Singh was a
32:41cold-blooded killer?
32:50In January 2009, detectives in West
32:55London faced the uphill struggle of
32:57proving that 44-year-old Lakvya Singh had
33:01deliberately poisoned her former lover
33:03Lucky Chima and his fiancée, Gajit.
33:14By the 31st of January, the detectives
33:16felt they had enough circumstantial
33:18evidence to charge Lakvya with the
33:21murder of Lucky and the attempted
33:22murder of Gajit.
33:24But they still didn't know what
33:26precisely the poison was that she'd
33:28used.
33:30They needed to work out what Lucky
33:33had been poisoned with to establish
33:36that link between the substances they
33:40had found and the suspect.
33:45Detectives reached out to a poisons
33:48expert to find out what substance could
33:51have caused Lucky's devastating
33:53symptoms.
33:55The poisons experts explained to the
33:57detectives, finally, that it was likely
34:01that Lucky and Gajit had been poisoned
34:03with aconite, sometimes known as
34:05wolf's bane, the queen of poisons.
34:09It's an exceptionally unusual poison in
34:12this country.
34:13The last case of aconite poisoning was in
34:161882, never since.
34:19The police turned to Professor Monique
34:21Simmons, a researcher and botanist with
34:24expertise in identifying plant compounds.
34:29They sometimes come to Q because of the
34:31collections at Q, the specimen, living
34:34specimens we have, but also the estimated
34:368 million in our herbarium collection.
34:39And we were aware that it could be,
34:42therefore, aconitum because of the
34:44symptoms.
34:45So we asked to hear a little bit more
34:47about the symptoms.
34:48Again, we're not medics, but we have
34:50some of that knowledge about what
34:51potentially the toxins can be.
34:55Aconitum has an effect on the organs
34:58breaking down.
34:59The victim is very much, you know,
35:01aware of what is happening.
35:02They can't breathe and things like that.
35:05Professor Simmons was given samples of
35:08all of the evidence the police had
35:10gathered.
35:12If you look then at the samples we've
35:15been given, some material that has come
35:17from Mrs. Singh's pocket.
35:21Some from the remains of the curry.
35:25And then from samples from the victim's
35:30stomach and blood, we make an extract.
35:34So now we've got samples that we can
35:37inject into the equipment that we use.
35:44And that will help analyse that extract.
35:49So we get what we term kind of a chemical
35:53fingerprint.
35:53It's not the same as a DNA fingerprint,
35:55but in our terms, it enables us to identify
35:58the different compounds that are in that
36:02extract that we've made.
36:04Analysis of Lucky's blood and stomach
36:07contents found that not only was it
36:09chemically the same as the toxins found in
36:12the samples of leftover curry in his fridge,
36:15it was also the same as the powder found in
36:18Lakvir Singh's handbag and coat pocket.
36:22But what was puzzling was that it didn't match the
36:25profile of aconite commonly found in the UK.
36:29And then that's where we heard a little bit more about the
36:32case of this is a lady who went to India.
36:34OK, why you think, let's look at a species then,
36:39Ferox from India.
36:40And then you get slightly different chemistry.
36:44And then, wow, the chemistry meets what we would expect.
36:53Professor Simmons was able to say conclusively that the
36:57substance was a match for Indian aconite.
37:00Pieces of the jigsaw were finally falling into place in the
37:05case against Lakvir Singh, who'd visited her native India
37:08around the time Lucky's engagement was announced.
37:12It was several weeks before the incident that led to death.
37:18Where exactly she went, we don't know.
37:20But the fact is, there are marketplaces in that part of
37:23India, in northern India, just south of the Himalayas,
37:28where you can buy almost anything.
37:30So we took the view from an evidential standpoint that we
37:35say that that's where she got the item from.
37:39Lucky had been hospitalised with a stomach complaint just
37:43days after Singh had returned.
37:46But on that occasion, he'd pulled through.
37:49Detectives now suspected this had been Singh's first attempt
37:53on Lucky's life.
37:55As her trial date approached, Lakvir Singh continued to deny
37:59the charges against her.
38:01Twelve months after Lucky's death, the trial opened at the Old
38:06Bailey in January 2010.
38:10Once I found out the background to this case, then this was a date in
38:15my diary that was ringed in red.
38:17This was going to be a huge case.
38:20Singh faced charges of murdering Lucky, as well as attempting to murder
38:25Gajit.
38:26She also faced an attempted murder charge for the incident where Lucky
38:31had fallen ill a month or so before he died.
38:35The opening statement, opening speech of a prosecutor is a very important
38:41tool in a way because it's how the jury first get introduced to the case.
38:47In a way, I had an advantage because it was a fascinating case.
38:54I was able to present the reality of a woman who just couldn't take it,
39:01that her lover, who she was still in love with or maybe even obsessed by,
39:07had moved from his affections from her to this younger woman,
39:11and she was jealous and obsessively jealous.
39:18There was an element of a physical relationship continuing, but she could not face the fact
39:26of the impending marriage.
39:30She gathered in India the wherewithal in preparation to kill her former lover.
39:40Edward Brown, KC, told the jury about Lucky's mysterious illness in December 2008.
39:50His illness and his visit to the hospital were after the defendant, Mrs. Singh,
39:55had returned from India.
39:57With Lucky having survived a first attempt on his life,
40:01the prosecution's case was that in late January 2009,
40:06Lakvir Singh laced the curry in his fridge with a much stronger dose of poison,
40:11enough to end his life.
40:14Gojit, with the assistance of an interpreter,
40:16gave her account of what happened on the day in question.
40:20The Old Bailey is a very intimidating place to be,
40:24and poor Gojit was there.
40:27She'd barely been in this country more than a year or so.
40:29She was giving evidence about the murder of her fiancé,
40:33the person she planned to spend the rest of her life with.
40:37She couldn't speak the language.
40:38She looked very alone and very, very vulnerable.
40:42We know that one of the tenants also gave evidence of
40:45Singh retrieving the Tupperware with the food content in there,
40:49and there were specialists who then gave evidence in relation to aconite
40:53and the symptoms for being poisoned.
40:58Sitting silently in court, occasionally tearful,
41:02Lakvir Singh, through her lawyer, denied the charges against her.
41:13Part of Lakvir's defence when she comes to trial
41:17is that the actual murder wasn't committed by her,
41:20but was committed by a relative of both she and Lucky.
41:23Gurdjieff confirmed on the witness stand
41:26that this man had threatened Lucky on the day he died.
41:30Lakvir also maintained in her own defence
41:32that she couldn't possibly have killed him because she loved him.
41:38When the jury retired to consider their verdict
41:41after the five-week trial,
41:43they deliberated for no fewer than four days.
41:47Really quite a long time.
41:53When the jury filed back into court with their verdicts,
41:57it's always a very, very tense moment
41:59because literally nobody apart from those 12 people
42:02know what the verdict's going to be.
42:06The jury convicted Mrs. Singh of murder of Lucky.
42:12They were not sure that Mrs. Singh intended to kill Gurjit,
42:17but they convicted her of causing her GBH.
42:22They acquitted her of the earlier poisoning, as we presented it,
42:27maybe because the scientific evidence wasn't there.
42:32Singh looked mousy, she looked very sort of inward.
42:36She looked a tiny figure between prison officers.
42:40She looked beaten, she looked subdued.
42:43I think she knew almost from the start
42:45that she was going to be convicted
42:47and that she would have to live with what she's done
42:48for the rest of her life.
42:53Lakvir Singh was sentenced to life
42:55with a minimum term of 23 years in prison.
43:00I recall the judge stating that she hadn't just acted
43:06in an explosive act of revenge,
43:08it was a very cold and calculated murder.
43:12I think she probably was, generally speaking,
43:17quite a cold person, quite an entitled person,
43:21and somebody who felt that she had some kind of right
43:26to control her partners.
43:32UK women's rights charities have found
43:36that more than half of women who kill their partner
43:38do so in response to domestic violence or abuse.
43:43Lakvir Singh falls into a rare category of women
43:47who plan a homicide for another reason entirely.
43:50In her case, rageful revenge.
43:55There's this anger and outrage
43:58at the injustice of you deciding to leave me.
44:02And I do think that in this case,
44:05Singh did think she'd suffered an injustice.
44:08She thought Lucky was going to be with her forever.
44:10And it was terrible that he suddenly decided
44:14to go off and get engaged.
44:17I didn't see a single trace of remorse.
44:21It's virtually impossible to imagine
44:23that she would have any remorse
44:25because this was a planned operation
44:28and it achieved exactly what she wanted,
44:31which was the agonising death of her former lover.
44:41When Lakvir Singh's secret lover
44:44made plans for a future with someone else,
44:47it was more than she could bear.
44:51Unwilling to see Lucky Chima find happiness
44:54and a family with his new fiancée,
44:57Singh set out to end his life,
45:00grievously harming Gerjit in the process.
45:05For a murder meticulously planned
45:08and ruthlessly executed,
45:11Lakvir Singh will always be remembered
45:13as one of Britain's most evil killers.
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45:53Transcription by CastingWords
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