10 Years Later, Cops Make ID in Thames Murder Case

British police traveling to Nigeria to probe child killing
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 29, 2011 3:06 AM CDT
Thames Ritual Murder Boy ID'd After 10 Years
The boy's torso was found floating in the Thames near Tower Bridge in September, 2001.   (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

London police have finally made a breakthrough in a horrifying murder case almost a decade after a young boy's torso was found floating in the Thames. A Nigerian woman says she cared for the 5-year-old boy in Germany for a year before she handed him over to people who killed him in a "black magic" ritual. They threatened to kill her if she didn't stay quiet, the Independent reports. The boy—named Adam by investigators—was called Ikpomwosa, the woman told reporters, who traced her to her home in Nigeria.

Tests revealed that the boy was poisoned with an extract from the calabar bean, which would have left him paralyzed but conscious before his throat was cut in the ritual killing. Police are still seeking a specific motive for the killing. "We can confirm that the investigation team have been preparing to visit Lagos, Nigeria, in connection with the Adam inquiry," said a Metropolitan Police spokesman. "They will be traveling in the near future." (More Britain stories.)

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