Stephen Port’s ex-drug dealer given life sentence for murdering James Bond actor
Gerald Matovu, Stephen Port’s drug dealer, was sentenced to X for the murder of Eric Michels. (Metropolitan Police)
The ex-drug dealer of serial killer Stephen Port was given a life sentence with at least 31 years behind bars for murdering a former Bond actor.
Gerald Matovu, 26, hooked up with Eric Michels, 54, via Grindr in August last year.
He used a syringe to administer a lethal dose of the drug GHB at his home in Chessington, Surrey, before leaving with Michels’ bank card details and personal possessions.
Judge Anne Molyneux QC sentenced Matovu at the Old Bailey in London today.
Matovu and his partner, Brandon Dunbar, 24, targeted Michels and 11 other men across a 19-month period, jurors heard.
Michels, a business-person, had an uncredited bit-part in Skyfall, according to ITV.
What happened?
After a night out in Soho, a queer district in London, Michels, who worked for an energy company, logged-onto Grindr on 16 August and met Matovu.
Courts heard that the pair agreed to go to Michels’ place in south-west London for sex. There the defendant drugged Michels and photographed his bank cards and driver’s licence.
The next morning Matovu called a taxi and went to Dunbar’s address with a suitcase. It contained a MacBook, mobile phone, initialled black case, US driving licence and various cards as well as a suitcase full of bottles of alcohol.
The prosecution told jurors that Matovu and Dunbar took advantage of men to steal their property and bank details.
Of the dozen men targeted by the defendants, 10 had property stolen and 11 had photos taken of their bank cards.
Concerned family members later discovered Michels under a duvet in bed the next day with an empty, 3ml syringe without a needle on the floor.
DNA from the victim and defendant was identified on it, as well as traces of GHB, the court heard.
Matovu denied murder, but accepted going home to hook up with Michel. He claimed it was consensual.
Grindr serial killer Stephen Port
Jurors were not informed about Matovu’s past connection with serial killer Port, 44. The east London local also targeted a series of victims via Grindr and killed them with GHB overdoses in 2016.
Port was handed a life term for raping and murdering four young men and dumping the bodies near his home between 2014 and 2015.
After the trial, Matovu pleaded guilty to supplying ephedrine and GHB. Although, he claimed not knowing what Port planned to do with it.
Matovu, from south London, was convicted of six counts of administering a noxious substance, seven thefts, six counts of having articles for fraud, murder, assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of a controlled drug of class C.
Dunbar, from east London, was found guilty of three counts of administering a noxious substance, five thefts, six counts of having articles for fraud, two frauds, assault by penetration, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and dishonestly retaining wrongful credit.
