Police have arrested at 29-year-old man following new evidence of a video which showed him torturing another homosexual man for seven hours, then as he was dying, taking a liquid, pouring it on the floor, and setting his apartment on fire to cover up his crime:
A serial killer has been jailed for life for murdering a man in a police-themed gay sex session and then setting his flat on fire to cover his tracks.
Jason Marshall, 29, was found guilty on August 9 and will serve a minimum term of 39 years for the murder of 58-year-old Peter Fasoli.
Marshall, who killed a further person in Italy while he was on the run, was also sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for arson to run concurrently, in sentencing at the Old Bailey.
The jury heard that Marshall set up a rendezvous with Fasoli at his Ealing home via a gay dating app, and tortured him for a prolonged period before suffocating him. He then committed arson in a bid to hide the evidence of the murder and stole his victim’s credit card, using it to flee by plane to Italy a few days after the murder.
Fasoli, 58, died on January 7, 2013, after he was brought out of his burning flat in Rubens Road, Northolt.
Police, London Ambulance Service (LAS) and London Fire Brigade (LFB) attended after being called just before 1.00am. The case was originally treated as non-suspicious, following an investigation led by LFB which concluded the fire was accidental, with the most likely cause a faulty light bulb.
A forensic pathologist who examined Fasoli’s body found no evidence of any third party involvement and the inquest held at West London Coroner’s Court on August 16, 2013 returned a verdict of accidental death.
However, around a year later, in autumn 2014, Fasoli’s nephew decided to collect the hard drive of his uncle’s computer, which was being stored on behalf of the family with other belongings that had survived the fire by a friend in Yorkshire.
His nephew knew his uncle had been interested in the family tree and hoped to find research preserved on the computer system. Instead, he discovered a number of videos featuring his uncle taking part in sexual activities with other men – including the horrific seven-hour film of the encounter with Marshall. Fasoli had unwittingly captured his own murder on the web camera that he had on his computer in the living room.
The film, shown to the jury in court, shows Marshall arriving kitted out with generic police accessories he had purchased on the internet, and he and Fasoli chatting and then engaging in what appears to be consensual role playing based on an ‘interrogation’ before Marshall initiates what becomes a prolonged and violent domination of Fasoli, culminating in his murder.
This includes threatening him at knifepoint, and forcibly injecting him on multiple occasions. Classic FM radio station is playing throughout.
The audio captures the sounds at the end of the film of Fasoli shouting out to Marshall after his head has been covered and he has been pulled off the bed and out of view of the camera. Marshall remains impervious as he continues to ignore his victim’s increasing and visible distress.
Long after Fasoli has stopped making noise, Marshall can be seen lying on the floor and calmly smoking a cigarette, showing no apparent interest in his victim, before gathering his belongings.
The web camera lead then appears to be pulled out and the sound can be heard of Marshall splashing a liquid around and flicking a lighter. A short time later Marshall is heard leaving the flat and the smoke alarm activates.
The morning after the murder, Marshall sent a message to Fasoli via the same dating site apologising for not having turned up the night before, in a further attempt to cover his tracks. He then used Fasoli’s bank card to withdraw hundreds of pounds. The day before he fled to Italy he sent further messages accusing Peter of ‘ignoring’ him.
Later enquiries showed that Marshall had contacted and met Fasoli on at least one occasion in the weeks before January 7, and had led Fasoli to think that on the night of the murder he would be bringing another young man along to join them for the evening.
Once the hard drive found by Peter’s nephew and given to West Yorkshire Police was passed to the MPS, the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command launched its investigation in November 2014.
The MPS formally informed the Coroner of this development. Following enquiries, officers identified Marshall as the key suspect. Police discovered that Marshall was in prison in Italy in late 2014, having been convicted and jailed for the murder and subsequent attempted murder of two men in Rome just weeks after he fled the UK. These also took place in the context of sexual encounters.
A European Arrest Warrant was obtained, and on February 15 officers travelled to Heathrow Airport to meet the flight on which Marshall was returning to the UK. He was arrested and later that same day charged with the murder of Fasoli.
Detective Inspector James Stevenson, of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “We are pleased the sentence handed down to Marshall for the brutal killing of Peter.
“This was a cold-blooded attack, during which Marshall cynically gained the trust of a vulnerable older man to get entry into his home, then subjected him to a horrific and prolonged ordeal and ruthlessly ignoring Peter’s cries for help, knowing he was fighting to stay alive. Marshall then did everything he could to evade being brought to justice. (source)