Double murderer jailed for stabbing girlfriend in Walthamstow

A man who murdered his pregnant girlfriend while on licence for a previous murder conviction has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 42 years.

Alana Odysseos, 32, grew up in Suffolk and was about eight weeks pregnant when she died outside her flat in Walthamstow, east London, after being stabbed 19 times with a kitchen knife on 22 July 2024.

Shaine March, 47, of Surrey Quays, south-east London, initially admitted manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility and denied murder, but pleaded guilty partway through the trial.

When sentencing March earlier at the Old Bailey, judge Mr Justice Murray said he may never be released “given his age” and the length of the minimum term.

“I am sure you intended to kill her,” Mr Justice Murray told March, who appeared via video link from HMP Belmarsh having refused to attend the sentencing hearing in person.

The court heard Ms Odysseos was in a tumultuous relationship with March for four months before she was killed, during which neighbours heard constant arguments but no outward signs of violence.

The probation service in London had arranged for safeguarding checks to be conducted, but when March told them the relationship between him and Ms Odysseos had ended amicably no further action was taken.

March was 21 when he fatally stabbed Andre Drummond, 17, through the neck and was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2000.

He was released in early 2013 and recalled to jail later that year after he was convicted of assaulting his then-pregnant girlfriend and was released again in February 2018.

Jasmine Yates, Ms Odysseos’ sister, told the court she had noticed her sister’s mental health had become “erratic” and had tried to encourage her to leave March when he made her delete all male contacts from her phone.

Ms Yates added that while March promised Ms Odysseos he would go to therapy and change, he also left her sister voice notes telling her to get an abortion.

Ms Odysseos confided in a friend that she was frightened after March had smashed a glass in her face, the court heard.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Yates said she told her sister: “If he can glass you, he can kill you. I am haunted by these words and what happened after.”

Karen Cronin, Ms Odysseos’ mother, told the court: “I used to love going to church and singing in the choir, but the anger I feel towards [March] doesn’t feel Christian so I no longer go to church.

“I want him to die in prison with no hope of doing this to anybody else.”

During the trial, the court was shown CCTV footage of March as he walked away from Ms Odysseos’ flat after attacking her and disposing of evidence including mobile phones and clothing.

Police recovered March’s phone from a drain and found a voice note he recorded just after 03:00 BST that said: “Mum I just killed a woman and I’m going back to jail.”

CCTV and police bodycam footage from March’s arrest showed him repeatedly admit to killing and stabbing Ms Odysseos.

He also referred to himself as “scum” who deserved to be put in jail.

While March was in custody at Barking Police Station in London, he said: “I stabbed her multiple times with a long kitchen knife.

“I think the last stabbing was by the back of her shoulder blade, probably puncturing her heart.”

Forensic pathologist Dr Matt Cieka told the court the post-mortem analysis showed that Ms Odysseos was stabbed in the heart from behind.

He added the attack was with such “severe force” that five of the 19 stab wounds she suffered would have been fatal in their own right.