Saudi prince found guilty of killing servant
By IANSTuesday, October 19, 2010
LONDON - A gay Saudi prince on trial in Britain was Tuesday found guilty of beating and strangling his servant to death in a London hotel, a media report said
Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, a grandson of the billionaire king of Saudi Arabia, was convicted of murdering Bandar Abdulaziz by the Old Bailey court, the Guardian reported.
The prince was found guilty of murder after an hour and 35 minutes of jury deliberation. He showed no reaction as the decision was announced.
Saud, 34, had subjected 32-year-old Abdulaziz to physical assaults before the latter was found strangled in bed Feb 15. A series of injuries including bite marks on the victim’s cheeks were found, the report said.
The verdict will mean a lengthy jail term for the prince and an end to his playboy lifestyle, funded by his wealthy family, in which he dined in fine restaurants and secretly entertained gay escorts in his plush hotel room.
John Kelsey-Fry, Saud’s lawyer, unsuccessfully argued before the trial started that evidence of the gay relationship should not be put before the jury, claiming it was not “probative” of the murder allegations.
