Two Albanians who celebrated the murder of a rival drug dealer by spending his money on a cocaine fueled night in brothel have each been jailed for a minimum of 27 years.
Armand Tafa, 40 and Migen Emilova, 36, ambushed Stefan Moraru, 44, in suburban north London on March 20, 2023, after arranging to pick up drugs from him.
Police officers found Mr Moraru’s body in a driveway in Chandos Avenue, Barnet, where properties can fetch well over £1m.
Mr Moraru dropped his wads of cash on the street and Tafa picked up the money to pay for the night of vice.
The victim died from a single stab wound to the heart.
Mr Moraru, who went by the name Rica, lived with his friend Florian Spirlea and his family on Palace Road, New Southgate.
Armand Tafa (left), 40 and Migen Emilova (right), 33, ambushed Stefan Moraru, 44, in suburban north London on 20 March 2023 after arranging to pick up drugs from him. They stole wads of cash and celebrated at a brothel
He was stabbed shortly after he arrived on Chandos Avenue in his Ford Focus.
Tafa and Emilova both denied but were convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury.
Tafa denied but was convicted of robbery while Emilova admitted it.
The pair were found guilty on all counts by an Old Bailey jury a year to the day of the murder on Wednesday.
Hugh Davies, KC, prosecuting, earlier said the two killers acted together in the planned ambush and robbery.
‘The wider evidence suggests that what occurred was probably linked to the defendants believing Mr Moraru had provided them with substandard drugs; or as a minimum was a dealer who would have drugs and money – and in consequence they had arranged to meet and ambush him for the purposes of robbery.
‘Banknotes littered the road on the route where he had staggered to his final resting place.
‘The two defendants were acting throughout together: there was strength in numbers; they drove from the scene together.
‘They searched and emptied the car together, they must have had a plan and have agreed to carry it out.
‘They were in it together.
‘This was a robbery where each had agreed and intended that really serious harm would be caused if necessary.
‘According to the Spirleas and as essentially corroborated by cell site evidence showing him near their address up to about 9pm and 10pm on 19 March 2023, Mr Moraru left the Spirlea home.
‘He said he was going outside for 10-15 minutes, this was obviously consistent with going out to conduct a short transaction such as dealing in drugs.
‘He never returned.
‘There is no dispute that one of them was responsible for the physical act – the use of a knife – that killed Mr Moraru.
‘It is perhaps inevitable that each will now blame the other: it is a classic application of the maxim that there is no honour amongst thieves.
In his victim impact statement read out by Mr Davies in court today (Fri), Mr Moraru’s brother Adrian-Daniel Kaufmann spoke of the sadness his family have felt in the year since his brother’s death.
Evidence suggests the victim Stefan Moraru (pictured) may have previously provided the defendants with substandard drugs; or at least, was a dealer who they knew would be carrying drugs and money
He said: ‘We were five siblings, Stefan Stelian was our youngest brother, we always stuck together and protected each other.
‘When we were growing up in Romania, our mother and father had to go to work and my brothers and I stayed at home to look after Stefan.
‘Our eldest brother Marinel was like a father to Stefan.
‘Stefan Stelian was always the favourite in the family but he was still loving, funny and harmonious and we all loved him dearly.
‘Stefan’s murder has taken this person away from our family, away from our lives, the murder is painful for the whole family, just one phone call and everything changed forever.
‘To us, family is everything. We were close as children growing up, we are close as adults. We have grown up and have our own families.
‘The closeness remains, the family just got bigger. Stefan was a key part of that.
‘We grew up with strong values that we maintain today and pass on to our own children. Stefan was always well liked and popular wherever he went.
‘Stefan moved to London. I believe it was here he began to get involved in things that were out of character for him.
‘Since his death we have been told that he may have been involved in selling drugs.
‘This is something that we cannot comprehend and can only imagine that Stefan has somehow been forced into this situation.
‘Stefan did not drink much alcohol and we have never known him to take drugs, let alone be involved in anything that would lead to his death.
‘To us he was our little brother. He was a loving uncle.
‘Shortly before his death the whole family went to Romania and made wonderful memories together.
‘Now our children don’t want to go back to Romania because the wonderful memories of being there with their uncle have been turned into sad painful memories.
‘We were informed by a telephone call that our youngest brother had been found dead, a message that pulled the rug from under us all.
‘We had to travel to England to identify Stefan Stelian, nobody can imagine the pain we felt seeing our beloved brother lying there dead.
‘Full of sadness, we also drove to the crime scene with the police to leave flowers.
‘The idea that he was murdered there in cold blood was incomprehensible.
‘We travelled back to Germany with sadness and uncertainty, but we had to plan our brother’s funeral. It should not have been this way.
‘We wanted Stefan Stelian to be buried next to our parents in Romania.’
Over 250 people from Italy, Spain, Germany and England attended the funeral.
‘People came from everywhere to say goodbye to our brother, he was very popular and had many friends and family.
‘Stefan Stelian was healthy, he had his whole life ahead of him, he did not have an illness where you can prepare for a death, it was a sudden death that no one saw coming, it was a senseless, cruel and unfair death, it was murder.
‘Two men took our little brother from us, nobody deserves to die like this.
‘We don’t want revenge, we want justice for Stefan Stelian.
‘We as a family have been asked to describe how we are feeling, but how can you put the level of sadness and loss that we feel onto a piece of paper.
‘Each of us feels the loss of Stefan in a different way but we all feel it deeply everyday knowing our lives will never be the same again.
‘There are no words to describe what these men did to our family that day, what they did in minutes, will last a lifetime for our family.’
Sentencing, Judge Philip Katz, KC said: ‘Stefan Moraru was 44 at the time he was murdered, he was the youngest of five siblings.
‘Adrian-Daniel Kaufmann describes his brother as a loving man who came to London to work.
‘The impact of his sudden death has been felt by many.
‘On 19 march 2023, Stefan was delivering cocaine which had been ordered from one of you from a dealer you knew.
‘You were both at an address in Chandos Avenue, you did not previously know each other, but that evening you were drinking and doing drugs.
‘There is not a shred of evidence that Stefan Moraru had ever done any of you wrong, he was a courier.
‘I am sure you both hatched a plan to rob whoever delivers the drugs that night in order to send a message to the dealer.
‘It seems likely to me Stefan was not expecting any trouble as we was not armed.
‘I am sure you both knew a knife was taken from the house to use to injure the courier if necessary.
‘It must have been obvious that he might die, I am not sure that you intended to kill him.
‘It does not matter who was the first to use the threat of force, or who used the knife, you have been convicted on joint responsibility.
‘Stefan was stabbed in the heart with moderate to severe force.
‘He screamed during the incident, it cannot be sure whether he screamed before or after he was stabbed.
‘Your behaviour after the attack was callous in the extreme.
‘As Stefan was dying, you Tafa were picking up his money in the street.
‘Later you both went to buy cocaine and then to a brothel where you spent more of the cash.
‘When you were caught, you Tafa said nothing to help police or Stefan’s family to get to the truth.
‘You Emilova lied and lied repeatedly, swearing to God on the lives of your family, at one point you even tried to escape.
‘Your appearances in the witness box were some of the most shamelessly untruthful performances I have ever seen.
‘You had to be kept apart, you deserve each other.
‘I have not detected an ounce of remorse from either of you and you were only sorry for yourselves.’
Tafa and Emilova, both of no fixed address, denied but were convicted of murder.
Tafa denied but was convicted of robbery while Emilova admitted it.
Both of them were sentenced to a minimum of 27 years in jail.
Emilova sobbed loudly at Belmarsh Prison then the judge announced the sentence.