Man charged with murder of woman found in Grand Union canal suitcase
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Version 0 of 1. The woman who was found in a suitcase floating in a London canal was a 23-year-old Polish delicatessen worker, it has emerged, as a man was charged with her murder. The remains of Marta Ligman were found stuffed in a black suitcase in the Grand Union canal in Little Venice, north-west London, on Sunday. Thomasz Kocik, 38, who is believed to have lived with Ligman in Harlesden, north-west London, appeared at Wimbledon magistrates court on Wednesday. Detectives believe that Ligman’s remains were thrown in the canal at some point in the last two weeks, although the circumstances surrounding her killing remain unclear. The 23-year-old, originally from the village of Trzeciewiec, in northern Poland, is thought to have moved to London in 2011 aged 19. Her boss at the Delicja Polish delicatessen, where she had worked for the past three years, described her as a “great worker and friend”. Levent Camlar, 49, told the Evening Standard: “Marta was an honest, great worker and very nice person. She was so kind and nice. She just wanted to get married and settle with a family. She was very sweet and popular; she did not deserve this.” Camlar said Ligman texted him on 27 April to say she had to go to Poland because her mother was ill, which struck him as “very strange”. He added: “I am shocked and horrified that such a young person with her life ahead of her as ended up dead in this way. We are close-knit here, it is more than a workplace, it is like family. Marta said we were like her family.” On Facebook, Martha is pictured wrapped in the arms of a man as they pose for the camera. Beneath another photograph, she quoted a Polish translation of the French novelist Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, best known by her pseudonym George Sand: “Happiness is not a vague dream. There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.” She added in a comment: “I also love and am loved.” She listed Ellie Goulding, Snoop Dogg and David Guetta as her favourite music artists and said she was a fan of the Polish version of The X Factor, Tylko Muzyka. Kocik was arrested on Monday night along with two other men, but police did not announce the arrests until Tuesday evening for “strong operational reasons”. The two other men, aged 34 and 30, have been bailed to a date to be confirmed. Kocik was remanded in custody and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on Friday. DCI Simon Ashwin, who is leading the investigation, appealed for the public’s help as detectives seek to establish the circumstances surrounding Ligman’s death. An initial postmortem examination proved inconclusive. He said: “I would like to ask for the help of all those people who use or live on the Grand Union canal. We now believe that the body, placed in a black suitcase, was placed in the Grand Union canal at some point in the last two weeks. “Whilst the body was recovered near to Little Venice it is highly likely that she entered the water further along the canal. Did you see or hear anything suspicious or see a black suitcase in the canal?” On Tuesday morning police lifted the cordon sealing off the area where Ligman’s body was recovered near Delamere Terrace. The towpath next to the canal has been closed since last week for repair work by Thames Water. Officers are obtaining CCTV footage and carrying out door-to-door inquiries in the area. |