Louis Vuitton model George Koh convicted of brutally murdering rival Harry Uzoka when they met to settle dispute over woman
25-year-old up-and-coming British model Harry Uzoka was stabbed and killed in January, and 24-year-old IMG model George Koh and 23-year-old Jonathan Okigbo, hailing from Kentish Town in northwest London, were subsequently caught and charged for the murder. Now, almost seven months later, Koh has been convicted of the crime.
Considered "the country's most famous black model," Uzoka boasted of over 22,000 followers on Instagram and had modeled for the likes of Zara and Mercedes. Bad blood between him and Koh first began on social media, with the former calling Koh a 'fake' and warning him to stop being a 'copycat.'
According to the New York Post, a direct message sent by Uzoka to Koh read: "Leave my name out of your mouth, it’s that simple. I’ve never spoken bad of you in any way, so this is wild." Soon, the conflict escalated into a fully-fledged physical confrontation after Koh went as far as to claim that he had slept with the slain 25-year-old's model girlfriend Ruby Campbell.
The pair then met each other outside Uzoka's London home on January 11, with each bringing muscle as well as weapons to the showdown. But Koh's knife would have the decisive blow, stabbing through Uzoka's heart and leaving him for dead with neighbors on Old Oak Road, East Acton, where the incident took place saying they heard shouts of 'hand it over' in the melee.
Speaking of the tragic stabbing, detective inspector Beverley Kofi said: "This is another tragic murder with a young male victim who has met a violent death. We believe that the incident started at Ollgar House, in Olgar Close and the victim was assaulted and stabbed before staggering and collapsing on Old Oak Road."
"We believe there were a number of people involved, but we are still working to establish the circumstances and a possible motive. We have made two arrests and continue to pursue a number of lines of inquiry," he added.
The first two arrests were that of a 27-year-old man and another 28-year-old man, but both were later released after they were cleared of suspicion. Law enforcement managed to zero in on Koh through surveillance footage that appeared to show him at the scene of the crime.
In his defense, Koh claimed at the trial that Uzoka punched him and toppled him, thereby stabbing himself with the knife. But the prosecution would prevail, with prosecutor Richard Horwell telling jurors that Koh "plainly had an obsession with Harry Uzoka". "He even suggested to one witness that they were on a similar level in the modeling world. And that was not true. Whatever was going in Koh’s mind was festering into an unhealthy and toxic mix."
Koh's sentencing is scheduled for September 21 and he faces the prospect of spending a lifetime in prison.