A man has been arrested on suspicion of committing two murders more than five months apart – with the second allegedly committed while he was being investigated over the first, police have said.
Scotland Yard detectives said Carmenza Trujillo was found dead in south London on 17 March. The man was arrested a little more than a fortnight later, but then released while officers investigated. Police said Sheryl Wilkins died in north London on 24 August. The same man, aged 40, was arrested over both deaths on Thursday.
Detectives are investigating how the suspect and the two women might have known each other. One line of investigation is that the two women were sex workers. Police do not know if the women knew each other.
DCI Neil John, who is leading the investigation, said: “My sympathy goes to the family and friends of both victims, who have been updated on this development and continue to be supported by specialist officers.
“No woman should feel unsafe in our city, and we know this news will cause concern across communities. Our investigation is continuing at pace and remains a priority. I urge anyone who has information relating to either incident to contact us as soon as possible.”
Police have not named the man who has been arrested. In March officers responded to reports of an unresponsive woman in a building in Aylesbury Estate in the Walworth area of south-east London.
Emergency workers fought to save her but the 53-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene. She was identified as Trujillo.
Officers launched an investigation after the cause of her death could not be determined during a postmortem examination. That led police to arrest the man on suspicion of murder 15 days later, on 1 April. “He was released under investigation while extensive inquiries continued,” officers said on Friday.
On Sunday 24 August, the second woman was found unresponsive more than seven miles from the scene of Trujillo’s death, in High Road in Tottenham. The 39-year-old was identified as Wilkins and pronounced dead at the scene.
Again, police launched an investigation when no cause of death could be determined during a postmortem. The man was arrested on 4 September on suspicion of murdering Wilkins, and rearrested on suspicion of murdering Trujillo. He remains in custody, police said on Friday.
