- Danai Muhammadi and an accomplice used garden spray to start blaze that killed wife, 20, baby son and father-in-law
- Court heard how Iraqi-born killer was fuelled by 'spite, anger and resentment'
- Muhammadi was linked to murder scene by number plate technology
Danai Muhammadi, 24, was fuelled by 'spite, anger and resentment' when he killed Melissa Crook, 20, and their 15-month-old son Noah by torching the house in Chatham Hill, Chatham, Kent.
Mrs Crook’s father Mark Crook, 49, was left critically ill with severe burns in hospital following the fire just before 2.30am on September 10 last year and he died six days later.
Melissa Crook and her future killer Danai Muhammadi on their wedding day
Muhammadi and his friend, bouncer Farhad Mahmud, 35, squirted petrol through the letter box using a garden spray container, leading to fire breaking out at the base of the stairs. Mahmud was also found guilty of three counts of murder.
The location of the fire cut off any reasonable means of escape for the family who were asleep upstairs as the blaze took hold.
As smoke and flames filled the three-bedroom terraced house, Mrs Crook collapsed in an upstairs bedroom and was found dead by firefighters lying by her son who was wrapped in a quilt.
Amid the chaos, her brother Bohdan jumped out of a front bedroom window, causing fractures to his feet and hands. He then tried to get back inside to reach his mother, Amanda, who eventually managed to escape.
Her husband, Mark Crook, meanwhile, tried to flee the building by following his wife out of an upstairs window on to a flat roof outside. But 26-stone Mr Crook got stuck in the window frame just as a fireball blew the windows out.
He suffered 80 per cent burns and was taken to a specialist burns unit in East Grinstead, West Sussex, where he never regained consciousness in the intensive care unit. He died six days later.
Muhammadi’s new girlfriend, jobless Emma Smith, 21, was cleared of three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder but convicted of three counts of manslaughter after a six-week trial at Maidstone Crown Court.
Muhammadi and Mahmud were also found guilty of two counts of attempted murder.
Fire fighters at the scene of the fire at the Crook family home in Chatham, Kent
In the public gallery, survivors Amanda and Bohdan Crook shook visibly and hugged each other as the jury foreman read out the verdicts in front of a packed courtroom.
As Judge Mr Justice Sweeney said that Muhammadi and Mahmud faced life behind bars, a family member shouted 'good'.
The judge told the jury: 'There can be very few criminal cases which are as taxing for a jury than this one must have been.
'I don’t suppose any of us are going to forget some aspects of the evidence we have heard about the fire.'
In the weeks before the fire, the court heart how Melissa Crook's relationships with Muhammadi and Smith deteriorated.
Smith had started a relationship with Mrs Crook’s estranged husband, Danai Muhammadi, and in four-letter text message exchanges she taunted her about their “great life together”.
Smith also mocked Mrs Crook about her size, for being “boring” in the bedroom and added: “Enjoy your life with no husband, no house... no money you gold-digger.”
Muhammadi told the court he had a good relationship with his estranged wife, but it became clear in the trial that he had thoughts of extreme violence.
Up to three months before the fire, he told one workmate he wanted to harm his estranged wife, telling them he was going to throw acid in her face to “f*** up her life”.
The couple's marriage collapsed after six months amid arguments and emotional conflict involving their son
Mrs Crook escaped the burning building in Chatham, Kent, along with her 22-year-old son Bohdan - Melissa’s brother - but both said the end of the court case would not bring them closure.
She said: 'We weren’t just anyone, we were family, and the fact he (Muhammadi) did it to his wife and his own child and his father-in-law.
'He’s taken away our whole lives, just because of his greed, and that’s all it was.
'It was greed. There was no reason to do what he did.'
Speakign after the guilty verdict, she added: 'The verdict today is not a cause for celebration for us, the family, but we are relieved that we have at least received justice.
'The evil people convicted today are now deprived of their liberty, and justly so.
'However, no sentence they received could bring back the loved ones they took from us.'
Police initially had no reason to suspect Muhammadi until they visited him at his new home in Coventry and discovered, through automatic number plate recognition technology, that he had driven to Kent and back around the time of the fire.
Mobile phone records later revealed that, in an effort to eliminate himself from suspicion, Muhammadi texted Mrs Crook at around 11am that morning.
He wrote: 'Hi mel, hope you both well. Can I book the hotel for 22 September. Let me know please. Love you, mate. Give Noah (a) hug and kiss from me. X.'
Prosecutor Mark Dennis QC described it as a 'cynical and breathtaking attempt' to protect himself from suspicion of the arson attack he committed just hours earlier.
After police discovered he had travelled to Kent, Muhammadi, who was raised in Iran, was arrested and during a search of his home, a post-code for a property in Maidstone was found on a scrap of paper.
This led officers to Mahmud - and in the bath of his flat officers found the plant sprayer used to start the fire.
Mobile phone records then proved Smith was in Kent at the fire and had made a 999 call - between calls to Mahmud and Muhammadi - claiming she had driven past a burning house.
A date for sentencing was provisionally set for the first week in July.
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