A wicked neighbor who befriended a vulnerable woman and led a “pack of savage savages” to torture her to death lured her into taking drink and drugs after his victim’s relationship breakdown.
Ashana Studholme, 38, was part of the trio of killers who starved and beat Shakira Spencer, 35, a mother of two, in west London in 2022.
Along with her boyfriend Shaun Pendlebury, 26, and Lisa Richardson, 44, Studholme reduced a “beautiful, happy and healthy” Mrs Spencer from a size 16 to an “emaciated and emaciated” size six, feeding her only her ketchup packets.
On Friday, Studholme, Pendlebury and Richardson were each ordered to serve minimum sentences of 34 years.
On September 12, 2022, the trio beat Spencer to within an inch of her life before stuffing her into the trunk of a car and then locking her in the closet of their own home, leaving her to die and her body to rot. She was only found when a neighbor saw maggots crawling under the front door two weeks later.
Studholme first became friends with Spencer in 2021, when they became neighbors after the breakdown of their relationship.
Shakira Spencer, 38, was found dead in her flat in Hanwell, west London, after a neighbor raised the alarm.
Ashana Studholme, 38, was part of the trio of killers who starved and beat Shakira Spencer, 35, a mother of two, in west London in 2022.
Mrs Spencer (pictured) had been fed only ketchup sachets while being enslaved, tortured and reduced to “skin and bone”, the Old Bailey heard.
She was known as a “lovely” person, neighbors said, but was also described as “very slow and socially awkward,” a fact that police said made her vulnerable to abuse.
Studholme soon forced his way into Mrs. Spencer’s life, eventually taking charge of her finances and controlling her every move.
At a three-month trial Studholme was found to be the leader of “a pack of savage savages.”
He had previous criminal convictions for violence, including an incident in 2013 when he kicked and punched a woman in the back as she lay in the street.
After being imprisoned for the crime, in 2017 she admitted to having committed a racially aggravated assault against another woman.
“These three evil defendants clearly viewed Shakira Spencer as less than human,” prosecutor Allison Hunter KC told the court.
Detective Brian Howie of the Metropolitan Police, who led the homicide investigation, said Ms Spencer just wanted a group of friends she could trust. Instead, she found herself at the center of a circle of evil.
He said: “I think she just wanted to be cared for, loved, have a group of friends around her and these people just coerced and manipulated her over a long period of time.”
Studholme’s friend Lisa Richardson, 44, was also found guilty of murder.
Shaun Pendlebury, 26, Studholme’s former partner, was also convicted of murder.
Describing Studholme, he added: “Ashana Studholme is a cruel, manipulative and coercive individual.
‘He seems to have power over people and control them. She’s just a vile person.’
After initially befriending her, Studholme soon completely controlled Mrs. Spencer.
Studholme isolated her from friends and family and made sure all of Spencer’s money went directly to her.
She was effectively enslaved on behalf of the trio and was frequently forced to get up early in the morning to run errands for them.
Mrs Spencer was forced to sleep under newspapers in the hallway of the Studholme house.
Following their arrests, police officers found hundreds of messages on their phones describing the horrific abuse and violence to which Ms Spencer had been subjected.
Richard and Studholme were found to have shared mocking images of her, while videos of Ms Spencer being beaten while others watched were also recovered.
The abuse suffered by Ms Spencer gradually increased until, in September 2022, she was the victim of a final sustained attack over the course of a weekend at the Studholme flat in Harrow.
Ms Spencer had gone from being a “beautiful, happy and healthy” size 16 to a “emaciated and emaciated” size 6 shortly before her death, the jury heard.
Ashana Studholme found guilty of murdering Ms Spencer
They poured boiling water on her, used a lighter and spray cap as a blowtorch, and hit her on the head with a heavy massage device.
After returning her to her flat in Ealing, west London, the trio took steps to clear the premises of any trace of them, as well as their own property, of any DNA or items belonging to Ms Spencer.
Police later found documentation showing Studholme was receiving all of Ms Spencer’s benefits.
The documents that would form part of the evidence against him were hidden under his mattress or kept in a bag that was stamped with the phrase: “It wasn’t me.”
Prosecutor Hunter told the trial: “During the months leading up to her murder, the defendants, primarily Studholme and Richardson, so completely subdued and dominated Shakira that she was placed under their complete control.
“She was isolated from everyone she had previously known, her free will seemingly undermined and stolen.
“They stole her self-respect, her finances, took over her apartment, treated her like a slave, ordering her to wake up early in the morning to clean their houses, sending her to the stores to run her errands, feeding her alone. with ketchup packets and then in circumstances of incredible depravity, they boasted and sometimes photographed and filmed what they had done and intended to do to him.
“This was the slow erosion of a human being over many months culminating in what the Crown says was a sustained, frantic and almost savage attack over several days: scalding her, burning her, hitting her on the head, whipping her with belts and beating her with fists and a glass bottle.
“When that didn’t kill her outright, they put her in a boot, took her to her own apartment and locked her in a closet and denied her even food and water until she died.
They then left her to rot in a bed while they tried to clean up anything that showed her involvement.
“These defendants clearly perceived Shakira Spencer as less than human.”
Following their convictions, Chief Inspector Brian Howie said: “My thoughts today, and those of my team, are with the family and friends of Shakira Spencer. During the trial they heard deeply traumatic evidence of the depraved acts of unspeakable cruel torment committed by the three accused.
‘They murdered Shakira in the most savage and inhuman way imaginable.
‘Shakira was a beautiful, happy, kind mother with a trusting nature.
“Shakira could be vulnerable and these defendants took advantage of that by controlling her and isolating her from everyone she knew to control and enslave her in the most dehumanizing and degrading way.
‘The family’s ordeal has been aggravated by the behavior of the accused, who have lied, providing implausible stories and explanations to try to exempt themselves from any responsibility.
“Whatever their cruel and sadistic motives, there is no acceptable explanation for what they put Shakira through.”