Joy Morgan: Fellow church member refuses to reveal location of student’s body after being jailed for murder
‘Dishonest and manipulative’ killer met victim while driving her to church with his wife
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A man has been jailed for life for murdering a student midwife whose body has never been found.
Joy Morgan’s mother pleaded for Shohfah-El Israel to reveal her final resting place after police searches covering hundreds of acres of land.
Israel, whose birth name is Ajibola Shogbamimu, denied murder but was convicted by a jury at Reading Crown Court on Monday.
The trial heard that Israel killed Ms Morgan, 20, after they met through a church group and spent time alone together in violation of its rules.
The 40-year-old claimed he dropped Ms Morgan off at her student accommodation in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, after a celebratory dinner at the American-founded Israel United in Christ church on Boxing Day.
Israel claimed he left Ms Morgan safe and well but she has not been seen since that date or used her bank accounts, and prosecutors said the laptop, prepared food and class agenda left in her room indicated that her “life was cruelly cut short”.
Sentencing the married father to life imprisonment with a minimum of 17 years, Judge Michael Soole said: “Only you know the circumstances of your terrible deed and why you did it.
“The court has heard the most moving personal statement from Joy’s mother Carol Morgan, which speaks of Joy’s warm, loving and caring personality and character.
“On top of all this must be the very particular and continuing distress and suffering, which flows from your cruel and cowardly silence about Joy Morgan’s final resting place.”
Speaking outside court, Ms Morgan’s mother Carol pleaded with Israel to reveal the location of the body.
“Give me my baby back, he knows where she is,” she said. “If he loved her give her back up to us so I can bury my daughter. If I get to see her before I die I’ll be very grateful.”
Prosecutors said Israel was a senior member of the Israel United in Christ congregation in Ilford, and ferried Ms Morgan to and from services with his wife.
The court heard that Ms Morgan’s mother, who is not a member of the church, reported her disappearance to police on 7 February – six weeks after she was last seen.
From the witness box Israel told the jury that Ms Morgan – who he denied having sex with, claiming he saw her as a daughter – had told him she wanted to leave the Israel United in Christ group.
He admitted spending two nights alone with the University of Hertfordshire student in his Cricklewood flat in north-west London, but denied they had sex and claimed he initially lied because the church banned women from being alone with men other than their husbands.
Founded in America in 2003, it preaches that “blacks and Hispanics must learn the truth that they are the Biblical 12 tribes of the nation of Israel”, and tells people to “repent” and obey a fundamentalist interpretation of Christianity.
Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls QC told the court Israel was “one of those people who lies whenever he thinks he can get away with it”, adding: “He is a thoroughly dishonest and manipulative man.”
In a message sent in March last year, Israel told Ms Morgan she was an “amazing princess” and “a treasure that cannot be measured”.
The jury was not told about flirtatious comments he allegedly exchanged with other women both before and after the student went missing.
Despite the image he presented of being an upstanding married member of the church, he had been using chat-up manuals, in some cases quoting directly from them, during his exchanges with the women concerned.
The court heard that after killing Ms Morgan, Israel attempted to cover his tracks by removing her number from a church group chat to suggest she had left the congregation, and appearing to check on her by visiting her student accommodation after the disappearance.
A signal from the victim’s phone, which has never been found, was detected in Israel’s car in the Stevenage area on 28 December, at which point the jury was told he was most likely “looking for somewhere to dispose of the body”.
The keys to her accommodation were also discovered in the footwell of his car.
GPS data from Israel’s car shows he was around Ms Morgan’s house at the time of the unusual phone activity, before he drove to Stevenage and returned her phone to Hatfield more than two hours later.
When asked why he had spent so long in Stevenage, he told the police that he had taken a wrong turn and became lost.
The prosecution’s case was that Israel had killed Ms Morgan and had in all likelihood driven her body to Stevenage.
Clare Tucker, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Israel is a calculating man who attempted to cover his tracks after he killed a young, studious woman who looked up to him as a father figure.
“Despite national appeals for Joy to come home, it was already too late to save her from Israel’s cruel actions.
“With every step of evidence presented to Israel he has changed his story but technology has been able to prove his involvement in Joy’s tragic death. In the end, we have been able to show beyond doubt that Israel was responsible for killing this young woman, who had so much potential.”
Additional reporting by PA