Thread: Law student who murdered controlling father

A law student who battered his pushy father to death and buried him in the back garden was jailed for life today.
Public school-educated Mark Alexander, 22, murdered 70-year-old Samuel to escape his domineering influence and lead his own life.

His father's remains were later found in plastic bags submerged in concrete at their family home.

Passing sentence at Reading Crown Court, Judge John Reddihough ordered him to serve a minimum term of 16 years behind bars.


Jailed for life: Mark Alexander, pictured with his girlfriend Senta Nazarbekova, murdered his father and buried his body in concrete



He accepted Alexander may have lived in fear of his father but said he acted in a 'despicable, callous and sometimes cunning manner' after his death.

Alexander remained impassive as he was taken down to the cells.

His father had insisted the brilliant student spend two years studying in Paris but Alexander wanted to live in London with his girlfriend, Senta Nazarbekova, who knew nothing of the brutal killing.

Determined to have his way, he murdered the frail former university lecturer at their £500,000 home in Drayton Parslow, Buckinghamshire, just days before he was due to depart for France in September 2009.

Two months later he put his father’s remains in plastic bags and submerged them in concrete in the garden.
But suspicious neighbours alerted police.

The remains of Egyptian-born Mr Alexander were found by police searching the property in February this year, days after he was reported missing. It is thought he had been killed as long ago as last August.

The court was also told how Mr Alexander had dominated his son's life.

In mitigation, the 22-year-old's lawyer, Michael Borelli QC, said his mother was driven out by the 'boorish and bullying' behaviour of her then husband when the defendant was only six years old.

From then on, Mr Alexander had a hold on his son's life and even used a bell to summon him.

Battered to death: Samuel Alexander, 70, was buried in the back garden



Alexander was kept apart from other children and made to practice music and study for long hours under the orders of his father, the court was told.

Mr Borelli said he was so fearful of his parent that he could not tell him of plans to stay in London with his girlfriend.

The domineering parent also had a 'secret life', the court heard.

He would spend long hours on the computer surfing teenage chat rooms and sex websites, sometimes posing as a man in his late teens or early 20s, it was claimed.

This was while Alexander lived in the house as his father's carer after the pensioner fell ill.

The murder came after 'a huge build up of tension', Alexander's lawyer said.

Addressing the defendant, Judge Reddihough sid: 'It is a great shame that you have not been able to bring yourself to admit what you did.'

He accepted that the defendant was 'very much under the control of his father' but said said the motive behind the killing was unknown.

'The relationship to some extent involved fear of his father or at least fear of going against his father's wishes,' he said.

'There is no doubt that this defendant was very much under the controlling influence of his father at all times, right up to the time that this offence occurred.'

The judge added: 'You might have killed him because you couldn't face telling him of your future plans or because you tried to tell him and he disagreed.'

But he said an aggravating factor in the case was the way in which Alexander had tried to conceal the crime.


The details of the murder shocked the community of just 500 people, with one distraught neighbour telling police: 'Nothing ever happens in Drayton Parslow.'

Privately-educated Alexander was in the third year of a law and French degree at King's College London when he was arrested in connection with the murder.

Alexander denied any wrong-doing, claiming his father was still alive and living with friends in London.


He had sent Christmas cards to some neighbours last year and signed them from his father, to keep up the pretence he was alive and well.

Despite having lived at home to look after his father, who was reliant on his son after an operation to remove his colon in 2008, Alexander left home in September last year.

He moved to an address in Fleet Street, central London, but continued to make visits home.

Tomb: Alexander encased his father's burned body in concrete in the garden of the 70-year-old's Buckinghamshire home

Buckinghamshire Council’s social services department continued to pay £945 into Mr Alexander’s bank account every month to cover the cost of carers they thought he employed.

It was later discovered payments - of £100 or £240 at a time - continued to be withdrawn from the Nationwide account on a regular basis after Mr Alexander was murdered.

Alexander denied murdering his father between August 20 last year and February 5 this year, unlawfully disposing of his body and two charges of perverting the course of justice. He had claimed during the six-week trial that someone else must have committed the murder.

But prosecutor John Price told the jury of six men and six women: 'It was his son Mark who had disposed of his father’s body and that then, his father being out of the way, Mark started to lead the life that he wanted to lead, but which Mark knew his father would never have permitted whilst he was alive.'

Mr Alexander was described as a 'cantankerous' man who was so careful with money he recorded every financial transaction he made in his diary.

He was 'very ambitious' for his son, who was educated at leading independent school Rugby School in Warwickshire.

As a young boy, Alexander was not allowed to play with other children and had no contact with his mother after his parents’ separation, even telling friends she was dead.

Mr Price said: 'Samuel kept himself and his son apart. The picture is of the father and son living together in this house, more or less isolated from those who lived around and about him.'

When Alexander started his degree, Mr Alexander regularly boasted about his son’s academic achievements.

He was especially proud of the fact he was due to study at the University of Paris-Sorbonne as part of his degree.

The pair travelled to France last July to make preparations, with Mr Alexander stipulating his son live with a French family rather than on campus.


Unbeknown to his father, Alexander had no plans to take up the placement, however and privately arranged to move in with girlfriend Senta Nazarbekova.

Ms Nazarbekova was aware of the strong hold Mr Alexander apparently had over his son, Mr Price said.

He told the court: 'Senta Nazarbekova described what she saw of the father-and-son relationship and how, as it seemed to her, Mark struggled under the weight of his father’s expectations and his control of him.'

Yesterday Alexander stumbled backwards in shock as the jury foreman returned the majority verdict. He held his hands up to his face and had to be helped by a security guard in the dock before being allowed to sit down.


Read more: Law student Mark Alexander who murdered controlling father jailed for 16 years | Mail Online

another lawyer kills parent thread.

Is it because they want to feel what life's like on the other side of the fence ? A guy in the UK name of Stephen Griffiths was studying serial killers at University, I believe, and has been charged with murdering at least 3 prostitutes.

Originally Posted by taxexile

another lawyer kills parent thread.

I was thinking when he comes out, he could get a job in Thailand somewhere

The GF looks like she is well stacked. I wonder why he did not just tell the Father to get stuffed and get on with life. He was an adult and the Father would have no legal jurisdiction over him. Why would a young and apparently intelligent man allow someone to bully and control him like that. Just walk away and let the old bugger twist in the wind.......unless there was a big inheritance at stake??