Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more!
James Bond Movie Extra Targeted On Grindr App Before Being Given Fatal Overdose And Robbed, Prosecutor Says
Gerald Matovu is accused in a robbery scheme targeting gay men that left Eric Michels dead.
A James Bond movie extra was fatally drugged and robbed after being targeted on the dating app Grindr, prosecutors say.
Gerald Matovu, 25, is on trial in London for killing 54-year-old Eric Michels, a company executive for an energy firm who once appeared as an extra in the Bond movie “Skyfall.” The businessman had been injected with and later overdosed on the drug GHB. Michels was discovered dead in his bed by his teen daughter, the Daily Mail reports.
Prosecutors have accused Matovu and his co-defendant Brandon Dunbar, 23, of being serial thieves who targeted their victims using gay dating apps.
The prosecution alleges that 12 gay men fell victim to the pair after meeting with either one of both of them for sex, the BBC reports. During the encounters, the men allegedly drugged their victims and then stole their property and took photos of bank cards while the victims were incapacitated.
The alleged encounter with Michels left the father of three dead.
Matovu and Dunbar have both denied the allegations against them.
In court, prosecutor Jonathan Rees said Michels arranged to meet with Matovu on the night of Aug. 16 in central London and then invited Matovu back to his home for sex.
While he was at the home, Rees said Matovu drugged Michels, took photos of his bank cards and left the next morning in a taxi with Michel’s computer and phone.
Michels 14-year-old daughter became concerned about her father after she had texted him asking whether he wanted to meet for a meal and never heard back. She texted him again on Aug. 18 and received a reply saying, “Hello hun im a little busy talk soon.”
The message seemed “totally uncharacteristic of her father,” Rees told the court, and the teen decided to phone her father. A man she didn’t recognize answered the phone and quickly hung up after she identified herself, further raising the teen’s suspicions.
She and her mother, whom Michels had divorced in 2010 after coming out as gay, went to his home and the teen discovered Michels dead in his bed.
“She attempted to rouse him by shouting his name, but to no avail,” Rees said.
Once Michels’ ex-wife pulled back a duvet that had been pulled up to his nose, she noticed dried blood and green bile near his lips. A syringe, which allegedly had DNA from both the victim and Matovu was also found near the body, the Daily Mail reports.
The prosecutor outlined similar incidents involving Matovu and Dunbar where other victims were drugged, including one alleged encounter where a 43-year-old man invited the pair to his home and remembers only having one drink before passing out and waking up to find three computers were stolen from the home.
Along with the murder charge, Matovu is facing a series of other charges including six counts of administering a poison or noxious substance to endanger life, one count of assault by penetration, one count of causing actual bodily harm, five counts of possession of articles for the use of fraud and seven counts of theft.
Dunbar, his co-defendant, is facing charges including five counts of administering a poison with intent to endanger a life, one count of assault by penetration, seven counts of theft, two counts of fraud and five counts of possession of articles for use in fraud.
