Married man who stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to death was found guilty of murder

Filmon Andmichaen, 31, killed 26-year-old Liwam Bereket in the wooded area on Freeth Street. Ladywood, Birmingham, On August 1 last year, their unborn baby died because there was “a complication he did not want to accept”. Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Jurors deliberated for about three and a half hours before returning their unanimous guilty verdict in Andmichaen’s second trial Wednesday.

The first trial collapsed in March due to issues with the child destruction count that remained in the indictment, which was resolved by the Court of Appeals and presented to jurors in the second trial.

The first hearing heard Andmichaen, of Haddon Road in Great Barr, called 999 at 9.45pm, an hour and a half after Ms Bereket was believed to have been stabbed in the neck, and told the call handler he had killed himself. He had “accidentally” killed his girlfriend and tried to kill himself. Andmichaen also asked the call handler to send officers to his address and for him to show them where he was.

Prosecutor Sandip Patel KC told the jury that the defendant “stated that he knew Liwam’s condition was dangerous and time was of the essence, but he still wanted the emergency services to go to him first.”

When Miss Bereket was eventually found face down and bleeding from her neck in an area covered with overgrown bushes, an emergency caesarean section was performed to save the girl, but she was stillborn.

Mr Patel said Ms Bereket’s neck injury was very serious but she would not die immediately and “could walk or run before collapsing”.

Instead of calling 999 immediately after the stabbing, Andmichaen was caught on camera walking towards a nearby canal with a bag in hand. He was then seen walking towards his white Toyota Yaris car without a bag, before turning around and heading towards the canal.

Mr Patel said Andmichaen may have tried to get rid of evidence and the knife used in the stabbing was never found. He was also seen returning to the scene of the stabbing with his brother. His brother later told police he became worried after seeing Andmichaen in wet clothes and asked him to call 999 if he had committed murder. crime.

The court heard that the defendant told Ms Bereket, who was enjoying her pregnancy despite suffering from morning sickness, to abort her baby as she already had a partner and children, which upset her.

He said Andmichaen’s wife, who came to live with him in Haddon Road from Uganda after meeting on Facebook in September 2021, had no idea about Ms. Bereket and that their marriage was going “well”.

Andmichaen and his wife got married in January 2022. The court heard Ms Bereket’s friends were concerned Andmichaen was verbally abusive and threatening, and a neighbor in Haddon Road told police she saw the defendant punch her in the face months before her arrest. stabbed.

Ms. Bereket’s bank cards and phone were found in a bag with her fingerprints on it in the trunk of Andmichaen’s car after her death.

Mr Patel told the first hearing: “Fingerprints were found on the defendant’s phone. He said that the death of Ms. Bereket and her child was a terrible accident and was not intentional. Ms. Bereket did not die instantly and in fact showed some signs of life two hours after she was injured, but the defendant did not call for help.

“He took her phone call, which we say was intended to prevent her from seeking help, as we knew that timely medical attention could have saved her life. “We say the defendant knew his actions would lead to the death of both of them.

“He couldn’t keep Liwam alive because he would have identified himself as the person trying to kill him and he delayed calling for help and destroyed the knife that had his DNA and her blood on it. This is a situation with serious consequences.

“He ended the life of a young and innocent woman and the unborn child she was nurturing inside her. The facts are as simple as they are terrible. Filmon Andmichaen made a chilling decision; He decided that the life growing inside his girlfriend was a complication he didn’t want to accept. “He decided that his solution to this situation was permanent.”

Andmichaen took the stand with an interpreter who translated the trial into Tigrinya, a language spoken in east Africa, and kept his hands clasped in front of him as the jury handed down their verdicts.

The judge, Mr Justice Choudhury KC, thanked the jury for their hard work during the trial and said he would sentence Andmichaen on Wednesday afternoon.