News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Grinning for the camera, monster William McFall snaps a selfie with pal Stephen Unwin, just half an hour after they dumped a "beautiful" mum-of-two's body in a burning car.

The evil pair, who had both served time for previous killings, were today convicted of murdering Quyen Ngoc Nguyen, 28, after luring her to Unwin's home in Tyne and Wear.

Miss Nguyen, who weighed just 7st, was put through an unimaginable four-hour ordeal, including sexual assault, rape and torture, after arriving at the house in Shiney Row last year.

Her badly burned body was later discovered in the back of her Audi by firefighters.

Despite the horrific nature of the attack, McFall was seemingly so unmoved by his victim's suffering that he happily snapped a selfie while travelling to a post office after the killing.

(Image: PA) (Image: Northumbria Police)

In the disturbing image, he can be seen sitting in a vehicle's passenger seat as he and Unwin drive to Fencehouse Post Office - where they withdrew cash from Miss Nguyen's bank account.

Unwin is pictured in the background, not looking at the camera.

The two maintenance men were today found guilty of the young Vietnamese woman's murder by a jury of eight women and four men, who deliberated for just four hours before reaching their verdicts.

They had both denied murdering Miss Nguyen. Unwin was convicted of her murder and her rape, while McFall was found guilty of her murder but cleared of the rape charge.

Jurors had heard how the pair ate a curry as Miss Nguyen lay dying at Unwin's home. The victim's body was later found in her car after it had been torched beside some allotments.

This afternoon, Miss Nguyen's sister, Quyhn Ngoc Nguyen, wept in the public gallery at Newcastle Crown Court as she waited for the verdicts. She could be seen holding a framed photo of her sibling

(Image: PA)

(Image: PA) (Image: PA)

The court had been told how killers Unwin and McFall - who met in prison - messaged loved ones and ate the curry they had cooked as Miss Nguyen lay dying in the house.

The victim worked at her sister's nail bar, but was also helping Vietnamese people find accommodation when she came across Unwin.

He worked for landlords maintaining properties, and the mum would not have known he was a life prisoner out on licence for murder.

During the earlier killing in 1998, Unwin murdered a pensioner and set fire to the elderly victim's house in a bid to cover his tracks. McFall, who is from Northern Ireland, also murdered a pensioner during a 1996 break-in.

The killers met in the prison system at HMP Swaleside, a Category B institution, in Kent, the court heard. They later got in touch via Facebook after they were both released on licence.

They teamed up, working together legitimately, but also stealing cannabis from farms they found in local properties, it was said.

(Image: PA)

(Image: PA)

They planned their depraved attack on Miss Nguyen, with Unwin tricking her into coming into his home in Houghton-le-Spring last August.

There, McFall was waiting.

The Irishman had texted Unwin earlier that evening using a vile racial slur, saying: "We raping the ch***"?" the court heard.

Before she was sexually assaulted, raped and killed in the horrifying attack, the mum had been forced to hand over her PINs.

Unwin withdrew £1,000 from her bank accounts at cashpoints that night. Each of the defendants blamed the other, seemingly hoping to confuse the jury.

McFall wrote to Unwin while they were on remand saying he had been to the prison library and found a "legal loophole" despite what he admitted was damning evidence. The prosecution claimed their loophole was simply to blame one another.

(Image: PA)

(Image: PA)

In a statement today, following the pair's conviction, Miss Nguyen's grieving sister described the victim as a "loving", "caring" and "beautiful" mum.

She also said it had been "unbelievably difficult" to hear the "lies" the defendants had said about her sibling in an attempt to clear their own names".

Her statement, released via Northumbria Police, read: "Quyen was a loving caring mother and a simply beautiful daughter, sister and aunt who loved nothing more than spending time with her family.

"She had many friends both Vietnam and in the UK. My sister has two beautiful young children whose lives have been changed forever, they will never see there mummy again which has left us all deeply saddened and hurt.

"My parents will never understand why she has been taken from them in this violent way, they always believed she would be safe in this country.

"She was their youngest child, a kind, generous, thoughtful and intelligent young women.

(Image: PA)

"We have all been left devastated by her death, our family has lost a wonderful women, we cannot even begin to describe the loss and emptiness in our hearts, her smile will be missed every day by everyone who knew her.

"Quyen was a talented loving and beautiful young woman who had the opportunity for a wonderful life; she had educated herself in London to degree standard, taught herself to learn the English language well and dreamed of a good life for her and her children.

"It has been unbelievably difficult for her family and friends to listen to the lies these two men have said about her in an attempt to clear their own names.

"She was not involved in any criminality nor was she ever in a relationship with Mr Unwin. The thought and knowledge of what Quyen must have suffered at the time of her death is unbearable.

"Although nothing will bring her back to us I accept the sentence imposed by the court and hope these individuals will never be released."

(Image: Northumbria Police)

Miss Nguyen, who was originally from Vinh, a city in the north of Vietnam, moved to the UK in 2010 to study business in London.

Her burned body was found in the back of her car on August 15, 2017.

Unwin and McFall are now facing the rest of their lives behind bars.

David Hines, founder of the National Victims' Association, said today: "A life sentence should mean a minimum of 40 years behind bars."

Because they have both killed before, Unwin and McFall are expected to receive rarely imposed whole-life prison terms, Chronicle Live reports.

This would mean they would never be released.

"Her killers lack any form of compassion"

Detective Inspector Ed Small, who was part of the investigation team, says the case is one of the worst he has had to investigate in his entire career.

Det Insp Small, of Northumbria Police, said: “This was one of the most horrific cases that I have had to investigate in my 25 years working as a police officer.

“William John McFall and Stephen Unwin had a history of targeting vulnerable people for personal gain and that is exactly what they did on this occasion."

He described how Miss Nguyen had been lured to the house and held for four hours, during which time she was sexually assaulted, rape and murdered.

(Image: ncjMedia Ltd)

“I can’t even begin to imagine how she would have felt in those last few hours and these two individuals deserve to spend the rest of their lives behind bars," he said.

“They are both violent men who lack any form of compassion. They are arrogant, greedy and have shown no remorse from the moment they were brought into police custody.

“To put Quyen’s family through the ordeal of a trial despite the mountain of evidence against them typifies what kind of people they are.

“I have nothing but admiration for Quyen’s family and particularly her sister Quynh who has sat in court throughout the proceedings so she could look both these men in the eye.

“Nothing will bring Quyen back to her family or her two children but these men now face the rest of their lives behind bars.

"I hope that gives them some form of justice.”