A racist former soldier who ranted about ‘bowing down to Muslims’ has been found guilty of the murder of his Moroccan-born neighbour.
Abdulkadar Chadli, 48, was found dead with a single stab wound to the chest at a property in Norwich, Norfolk, in November 2024.
Elvis Vickers – who spent three-and-a-half years in the Army with tours of Northern Ireland in 1997 and 1998, which included the Omagh bombing – had been on trial over the killing.
It took a jury at Norwich Crown Court just under 12 hours to unanimously find him guilty of murder.
Mr Chadli, who was originally from Hertfordshire, was found lying on the bathroom floor and died at the scene.
The former soldier had told the trial that he had stabbed him following a row after mistakenly thinking his neighbour was coming at him with a tool in his hand.
During the trial the court heard how the two men – who lived in adjacent flats – had been drinking together at Vickers’ home when they started to argue about current affairs.
Just after 10pm Vickers sent a text message to a friend which read ‘just to let you know, I just killed Abs’.
Seven minutes later he called 999 and said, ‘I’ve got a dead body in my flat, mate’ before telling the call handler ‘Yeah, I killed him’.
On video footage of his arrest, Vickers can be heard saying it was ‘self-defence’.
The jury of six men and six women were told that he had been ‘very upset’ as earlier that day he had found his brother dead at his flat.
After his arrest Vickers told police he was ‘ex-Army’ before ranting about ‘Muslims’, and how he had ‘seen my brother all day dead’.
Among a stream of racist mutterings as he waited to be taken into custody, he said: ‘Bow down to Muslims… F*** off.’
He said they ‘treat you like s*** and expect you to fight a war for them’.
‘I think we’re bowing down to the Muslims, that’s what we’re doing,’ he added.
Christopher Paxton KC, prosecuting, told the court Vickers ‘was a man consumed with anger and hatred’.
But giving evidence, he insisted to the court he did not intend to kill when he picked up the knife and denied the stabbing had been racially motivated.
Asked by Simon Spence KC, defending, if a factor in the stabbing was the victim being ‘Moroccan and a Muslim’, he answered ‘no’, adding Mr Chadli was ‘a true friend’.
He said he felt ‘really gutted’, adding: ‘It shouldn’t have happened.’
Judge Anthony Bate adjourned his sentencing until February, stating that ‘serious consideration was needed for the minimum sentence he will serve.
He said the sentencing would also hear personal impact statements from the family of Mr Chadli who described him as a ‘kind, caring and gentle guy’.
Detective Inspector Sam Pontin said: ‘Our thoughts remain firmly with Abdul’s family and friends and hope today’s conviction brings them some measure of justice.
‘This was a senseless act of violence which should never have happened.
‘We remain committed to tackling violent crime and ensuring those who commit such offences are held accountable.’
