Thursday, November 25, 2004

Another Murder by GHB

GHB is a truly awful drug. For those who take it willfully, there is the risk addiction, destroyed lives and death. It is often used for drug-assisted rape. And, much less publicized, it is used as a murder weapon. Here's a story on murder by GHB from England; I'm skipping to the crux of it:

The Guardian (London), November 10, 2004
Father of murdered family 'forced' to sign away firm before vanishing

Three men who held a businessman prisoner forced him to sign over his company and make reassuring phone calls to relatives and colleagues before they murdered him, a jury at the Old Bailey heard yesterday. But Amarjit Chohan's captors had already killed his wife, infant sons and mother-in-law by the time they finally killed him, the prosecution maintained.

The Crown alleges that Kenneth Regan, a convicted drug dealer and the ringleader of the plot, wanted to seize control of Mr Chohan's firm CIBA Freight and use it to import hard drugs. The rest of his family were murdered so that it would look as if they had all moved abroad voluntarily.

Following their disappearance, Mr Regan produced a document signed by Mr Chohan, granting power of attorney to two staff members, and a handwritten letter claiming he had illegally exported a drug called qat to the United States.

The letter, which has since disappeared, apparently read: "Greed has got the better of me . . . I've got myself in serious trouble. Some people are after me and I have to escape. I fear for the safety of my family."

Mr Regan, 55, of Wilton, Wiltshire; William Horncy, 52, of Bournemouth; and Peter Rees, 39, of Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, deny the unlawful imprisonment and murder of Mr Chohan, 45, also known as Anil. They also deny the murders of Nancy Chohan, 24; Devinder, 18 months, and Ravinder, two months, as well as Mrs Chohan's mother, Charanjit Kaur, 51, who was staying with the family.

All five vanished in February last year and Mr Chohan's body was pulled from the sea two months later.He had been gagged with packing tape and his blood showed an unusually high level of gammahydroxybutrate - known as GHB ....

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