How killer’s luck ran out after he walked free from THREE murder trials
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By Chris Summers 3 July 2024
After being charged with murder three times and walking free each time, Nana Oppong was something of a criminal Houdini.
But when he chanced his luck a FOURTH time he finally struck out.
On May 31 Oppong, 44, was jailed for life and given a minimum term of 38 years for the murder of Robert “Fox” Powell.
Fox, as he was known, was the manager of drill rapper Dutchavelli at the time but was also very well known in the underworld.
The prosecution admitted at Oppong’s final trial they did not know the real reason he killed Fox but they said he bore a “grudge.”
Prosecutor Justin Rouse KC told the jury: “Since Robert Powell is dead and Nana Oppong hasn’t told the police, the prosecution cannot tell you what exactly that grievance was, but it doesn’t matter. ”
My sources tell me Fox had once abducted and tortured Oppong and bragged about it for years afterwards.
But let’s go back in time and tell Nana Oppong’s story chronologically.
On 23 December 1999 when Oppong was just 19, he was charged with murdering Jeremiah Okey in Plaistow, east London.
Not a lot is known about the case but in March 2001, Oppong was acquitted of murder at the Old Bailey.
Strike One.
He spent his 20s getting deeper into criminality, dealing drugs and occasionally being a hired muscle.
Oppong’s 30th birthday fell on 28 May 2010 and that night he had booked the Sugar Lounge nightclub in Forest Gate, east London.
That night two groups in the club – which is in a suburban area surrounded by houses – were armed with guns.
As the Evening Standard’s peerless court reporter Paul Cheston, put it, ”a quiet Forest Gate street was turned into a scene from a Quentin Tarantino film.”
It was an all-nighter and the party was breaking up around 6.30am – an hour after the sun came up – when one of the guests, Eugene Brown, fired four bullets into the ceiling.
A melee broke out and Brown and another man, Patrick Ford, were chased and shot dead outside the club.
The prosecution claimed the killers were Oppong and his friend, 37-year-old Michael Smith.
Kevin Powell – who was a friend of Brown and Ford – then chased Smith, who was wearing a distinctive white suit, and shot him after he fell over by a bus stop.
Oppong – whose occupation at the time was given as both “salesman” and “cleaner”, neither of which are likely to have been the truth – denied knowing Smith and in June 2012 he explained to the jury why he had given a complete stranger a lift to the hospital.
He said: “I looked and he’s bleeding, he’s just running to get away. I open my back door, he just jumped into the car.”
“I realised when he jumped in, I see so much blood, I realise he’s getting shot,” he added.
In an interesting choice of phrase, Oppong said: “I’m not the devil, I saved someone’s life, innit.”
Smith, who survived, was later jailed for life for the double murder and given a minimum term of 34 years.
Powell was jailed for 34 years for attempted murder but juries at two trials were unable to reach a verdict about whether Oppong was guilty.
The Crown Prosecution Service cut their losses and decided not to try Oppong again.
Strike Two.
He was however jailed for two years for perverting the course of justice.
Two years passed and Oppong once again found himself on trial for murder.
This killing occurred at another all-night party.
The venue this time was the Beaver Centre in Dagenham, east London.
A brawl broke out at 5.35am and Ashley Latty, 25, was set upon by a group of men, kicked, punched and stabbed several times.
In April 2015 two of Oppong’s friends, Nicholas Terralonge, 28, and Tyler Burton, 28, were both jailed for life for murder.
Oppong – who was again referred to in press reports as a “cleaner” – was acquitted of murder and instead jailed for four years for attempting to commit grievous bodily harm.
Strike Three.
Oppong was released in prison in 2017 and is believed to have returned immediately to what he knew best – dealing drugs.
The COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 but Oppong was still able to move his product, primarily cocaine.
At this time he was using two EncroChat encrypted phones.
Around this time the French police managed to hack into the EncroChat server in Roubaix, northern France.
They monitored thousands of message conversations between EncroChat users until 13 June 2020.
That day those running EncroChat sent out a message to all customers: “Today, we had our domain seized illegally by government entities(s). They repurposed our domain to launch an attack to compromise the carbon units.”
“Due to the level of sophistication of the attack and the malware code, we can no longer guarantee the security of your device. … You are advises [sic] to power off and physically dispose your device immediately,” it added.
It appears to be a complete coincidence that earlier that same day – 13 June 2020 – Fox was murdered by Oppong and his associates.
Oppong’s co-defendant Israar Shah – referred to by the judge as playing the role of a “useful idiot” – parked his Toyota Prius directly outside the party exit.
The choice of car was deliberate – designed to make partygoers think it was a minicab driver waiting to pick up a departing guest.
Someone in that car tipped off Oppong as Fox came out, accompanied by his two sons.
Moments later Oppong got out of a Ford Kuga and shot Fox seven or eight times as he walked to a waiting car.
Mr Rouse told the jury: “He was shot in the temple and that bullet passed through his head, damaging his eye and teeth, but the fatal wound was a shot to the neck. He had been wearing a cosmetic gold teeth brace and this was found on the ground nearby.”
Two women who were sat in the car were injured – one shot in the foot, the other in the leg.
As Fox’s sons cradled their mortally wounded father, Oppong and his getaway driver sped off.
At his trial Oppong claimed when he fled abroad – eventually being found in the back of a lorry in September 2022 trying to enter Morocco, carrying a fake Maltese passport – it was nothing to do with Fox’s murder and simply because his drug dealing operation had been exposed by the EncroChat hack.
It was a good lie, if there is such a thing.
The timing matched perfectly.
I sat only six feet behind Oppong when he gave evidence at his most recent murder trial at Woolwich Crown Court.
With the jury not yet in court, he was brought from the dock in handcuffs, placed in the witness box and then uncuffed.
Three prison officers sat within close proximity of him as he gave evidence and then, after the jury left, he was cuffed again and led back into the dock and down to the cells.
He wore glasses and was smartly dressed, in a crisp white shirt, dark tie.
Under cross examination by prosecutor Justin Rouse KC he was cool and calm, nimble and quick-thinking.
I must admit I wondered if he would dodge justice for a fourth time.
But Mr Rouse diligently picked away at Oppong’s story.
Fox was shot and fatally wounded at 4.46am on 13 June (he died in hospital the following day).
Oppong claimed on the night of 12/13 June 2020 he had gone to a party in Redbridge, arriving between 1opm and midnight.
Afterwards he claimed he visited one of his girlfriends, Monica Holder, but she would not let him in.
Oppong claimed he returned to his apartment in Admiralty House in Wapping around 4am.
He said a woman called Dionne wanted to see him but he wanted to see another girl, Rakisha, so he called her over to Admiralty House and let her in around 5am.
Mr Rouse asked: “Is this another example of you crafting your defence to fit the evidence which has been served?”
“No sir, that’s your opinion,” Oppong replied.
Mr Rouse pointed out Oppong’s key fob was not used until 8.14am on 13 June 2020.
Oppong, quick as a flash, came up with an explanation: “Adam (his flatmate) let me in.”
Mr Rouse then moved on to ask Oppong why Trevor Hamilton, one of his spotters, was sending him messages – including screenshots of Fox’s Instagram posts – in the days leading up to the murder.
Oppong then appeared to suggest Hamilton was the actual killer.
Mr Rouse said: “This is another example of you tailoring your story to fit the evidence.”
Oppong replied: “The evidence is there. The protagonist is Mr Hamilton.”
Mr Rouse: “So you are suggesting he is the killer?”
“No sir,” Oppong replied cagily.
Mr Rouse: “What are you saying Mr Hamilton did?”
“What you called me in the opening,” Oppong replied, a clear reference to Mr Rouse’s suggestion in his opening statement to the jury that Oppong was the gunman who shot Fox.
Mr Rouse then turned to Monica Holder, who Oppong had clearly been besotted by in June 2020 but was now “throwing her under a bus”, suggesting she had slept with Hamilton.
Judge Joel Bennathan KC even stepped in and reminded Mr Rouse: “He is not on trial for not being a good boyfriend.”
Mr Rouse was rattled, but continued to pursue his line of questioning.
He said to Oppong: “You were obsessed with Monica Holder. You told her you loved her.”
Oppong, revelling in his womanising reputation, then replied with one of the best quotes from the trial: “I told Monica I loved her. I told Rakisha I loved her, I told Carla I loved her, I told Erica I loved her.”
Mr Rouse was not to be put off as he asked Oppong: “Is Monica now expendable? You are saying she was sleeping with two other men at the time but the evidence suggests you were obsessed with her.”
“That’s your opinion,” replied Oppong.
Mr Rouse pointed out Monica Holder had refused to give the police a statement and suggested Oppong had told her not to say anything which might incriminate him.
The prosecutor then asked about Rakisha who he said was supposedly Oppong’s “rock-solid alibi witness.”
He asked why she was not being prosecuted as a defence witness.
Oppong said he knew she lived in Enfield but did not know her address.
The evidence against Oppong was entirely circumstantial but it all added up – the EncroChat messages, the burner phones, the cellsite evidence.
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