The son of a Nigerian government official was yesterday jailed for life after raping and murdering a £1,800-a-night high-class escort. Bala Chinda killed Jessica McGraa only a few weeks after he arrived in Scotland to study at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen.
The 37-year-old £200-an-hour sex worker’s partially clothed body was found the following day in the bedroom of a flat she had rented in the city’s Union Terrace.
CCTV footage showed she had travelled to Chinda’s student accommodation in the city’s King Street with him in a taxi before they returned to her apartment a short time later.
Miss McGraa, also Nigerian, made her last call on her mobile phone a few minutes before surveillance cameras recorded Chinda, 26, walking down the street away from her flat.
Miss McGraa moved to the UK from Nigeria 11 years ago after meeting an English oil worker, Gareth McGraa, who had been working in a Nigerian complex. They married and had a son but later split.
During the trial the court heard that Miss McGraa’s seven-year-old son lived in London with fellow Nigerian Bimbo Ouiawe, 50, who she had adopted as her mother. She visited her son once a month and took him on luxury holidays.
She was originally from Nigeria and was an orphan but sent money to her two sisters and brothers who lived abroad.
Her double life as an escort was only exposed to her closest friends after her sudden death, with many believing she travelled round the country selling hair extensions.
Instead, she travelled across the country renting city apartments for a few days where she would spend time with her clients.
She charged up to £1,800-a-night and took bookings from men, women and couples and was currently ‘on tour’ around the UK.
She described herself as ‘classic, stylish, naughty, horny, sexy’. The site has topless photos of her with her face blurred out.
Yesterday a jury of eight women and seven men unanimously found Chinda guilty of murdering Miss McGraa in the city centre flat.
They took more than six hours to reach their verdict and also found him guilty of raping the mother of one and stealing her two mobile phones in an attempt to defeat the ends of justice.
Jailing Chinda, he told the killer he had ended the life of a woman described by friends giving evidence as ‘full of fun’ and who had much left to live for.
Chinda changed his phone number after her death.
The Nigerian, whose father works as the immigration attaché at the Nigerian embassy in Beijing, wept uncontrollably after he was found guilty by the jury.
The court heard that Miss McGraa died of asphyxiation and was probably smothered with a pillow and possibly strangled with her scarf.
Chinda was told he must serve a minimum of 18 years.
