Murder in Mayfair 2023

Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen was killed after a night out. Reporter Nawal Al-Maghafi seeks answers from the only suspect, Farouk Abdulhak, the son of a Yemeni billionaire.

In 2008, 23-year-old Norwegian student Martine Vik Magnussen was killed in a flat near Mayfair. Hours after her death the only suspect in the case Farouk Abdulhak, the son of one of Yemen’s richest and most powerful men, fled the UK to Yemen.

Martine and Farouk were classmates at Regent’s Business School in London. After celebrating end-of-term exams, Martine was last seen in the early hours of March 14 leaving the Maddox nightclub in Mayfair with Farouk.

Two days later, her body was discovered by Metropolitan Police in the basement of Farouk’s block of flats. Police believe Martine was raped and murdered. Farouk has never returned from Yemen to the UK to face any questioning.

The BBC’s Nawal Al-Maghafi seeks answers to what happened to Martine in this film produced by BBC News Arabic, BBC Current Affairs, BBC Studios Nordic and NeedToKnow, Underdog, and TV2 in Norway.

Nawal uncovers how money, political power, and Yemeni law protected Farouk, once he absconded to Yemen, which has no extradition treaty with the UK.

Farouk’s father Shaher Abdulhak ran a business empire that spanned the Middle East and had strong political connections to Yemen’s elite.

Travelling to Norway, Nawal meets those who were closest to Martine, spending time with Martine’s best friends and her father Odd Petter Magnussen, who has spent fifteen years fighting tirelessly for justice for Martine.

Martine’s horrific murder has not been forgotten by police in the UK. In London Nawal meets the detective inspector who led the investigation.

But to find out why Farouk fled and how he has evaded UK authorities all these years, Nawal is determined to speak to him, even though he has never spoken to a journalist before.

Reported by: Nawal Al-Maghafi
Directors: Gard Andreassen, Freddie Martin
Producers: Madelaine Jansen, Nawal Al-Maghafi, Kate Mead
Executive Producers: Tim Awford, Monica Garnsey, Styrk Jansen, Christopher Mitchell, Jan Salling, Ann Christin Siljan
Executive Producer for This World: Sarah Waldron