Independent Police Complaints Commission must investigate
London, UK – 15 August 2017
Jason Marshall (pictured above) was found guilty on 9 August in London of murdering an elderly gay man, Peter Fasoli, who he lured on the dating app Badoo. He murdered another gay man in Italy and tried to kill a third gay man, also in Italy.
You can read this Guardian report into the case and trial: http://bit.ly/2vn4Ez1
Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, who has monitored the case and has criticised the police handling of the investigation said:
“This case has echoes of the serial killing of gay men by Stephen Port and of the way the police failed to investigate those murders properly. Officers appear to have not checked Fasoli’s mobile phone, computer, bank transactions and the CCTV at his flat. If they had done these checks, they would have quickly discovered suspicious evidence, including a computer file that recorded hours of torture and eventual murder.
“Fasoli was incinerated in a fire started by Marshall to cover up the killing. Police say the fire service said the blaze was accidental, caused by a faulty light bulb. But it was revealed in court that the light switch was in the off position, so this clearly was not the cause.
“I am urging the Independent Police Complaints Commission to mount an inquiry into the way the police handled the case and for the London fire authorities to also investigate possible failings by the fire service. I am shocked that the IPCC has, so far, declined to do so.
“This is yet another instance where a murdered gay man has been let down by the authorities. Shockingly, it took the dead man’s nephew to uncover the fact that he was murdered.
“Fasoli’s killing is just the latest example of an isolated, vulnerable gay man being murdered by a predator using datings apps. It is a wake call to men who hook up online. While most rendezvous are safe and trouble-free, there is a small but rising number that end up in robbery, blackmail and physical and sexual violence,” said Mr Tatchell.
If you feel strongly about this case, you can email Lesley Longstone, the Chief Executive of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, to urge the IPCC to investigate the way the police handled Peter Fasoli’s murder: enquiries@ipcc.gsi.gov.uk