Moment father is shot useless inside Albanian lodge
A suspected British hit squad in an Albanian blood feud murder yesterday lost a court battle against extradition.
The gang – including a young mother – allegedly flew to the Balkan seaside resort of Shengjin and posed as tourists as they checked into a five-star hotel owned by their target Ardian Nikulaj.
There they accepted free meals from their unsuspecting victim, chatted with his wife and played pool with his 13-year-old son as they allegedly monitored his movements before one gave the signal to strike, the victim’s grieving family claim.
A fifth alleged gang member then strolled into the hotel restaurant and shot Nikulaj six times from point blank range with a Soviet made automatic pistol before fleeing.
Horrific CCTV footage captured the brutal murder last April and the multiple previous visits to the hotel by the Britons, where they were allegedly seen filming the inside of the hotel restaurant.
The gang – including a young mother – allegedly flew to the Balkan seaside resort of Shengjin and posed as tourists as they checked into a five-star hotel owned by their target Ardian Nikulaj (pictured)
Vera Nikulaj, the wife of victim hotelier Ardian Nikulaj, pictured outside their hotel
Harriet Bridgeman is pictured outside court in London
Harriet Bridgeman, 28, wept as District Judge Daniel Sternberg told the gang he would send their cases to the Home Secretary for the final decision on their extradition
Ardian Nikulaj was sitting at a table when a man pulled out a gun and shot him
Harriet Bridgeman, 28, and Thomas Mithan, 35, both from Bristol, and Harry Simpson, 33, from South London, yesterday learnt their court battle to try to block extradition to face trial in Albania had failed when they appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
Ms Bridgeman wept as District Judge Daniel Sternberg told them he would send their cases to the Home Secretary for the final decision.
The judge is also sending the Home Secretary the case of British-Albanian Edmond Haxhia, from Birmingham, who is accused of organising the gang to target Nikulaj as part of ‘blood feud’ between their families which has lasted nearly three decades and already led to seven killings.
He delayed a ruling on a fifth Briton, Steven Hunt, 50, also from Bristol, until a further hearing.
Under Albanian blood feud tradition, a family must avenge a relative’s murder by killing a male member of the killer’s family – who then have to do the same in return – in an ongoing cycle of bloodshed.
Horrific CCTV footage captured the brutal murder last April at the Balkan seaside resort
After Nikulaj was shot, CCTV showed the culprit fleeing the building
Ahead of the ruling relatives of Nikulaj told the Mail how their family had unwittingly welcomed the operatives accused of helping to murder him as one of their first guests in their newly opened hotel.
Sitting next to the now permanently ‘reserved’ table where her husband was shot, Nikulaj’s wife Vera fought back tears as told how because of the blood feud they were wary of threats from Albanians but never suspected that Britons could be involved in an attack.
She first saw Bridgeman, mother of a young son, in the hotel restaurant.
‘She kept trying to make eye contact with Ardian.
‘I told her, I speak English, how can I help you?
‘She asked to rent a car and Ardian arranged it for her.’
The following day the Nikulaj family dined in the restaurant at the next table to Bridgeman and one of the British men.
‘She wanted to pay with a credit card, but it didn’t work. Ardian said to the waiter ‘don’t worry, I’ll pay for them.’
‘They came up to us and thanked Ardian for paying for their lunch.’
Her son Luis, now 14, described how a few days later he saw Simpson at the pool table which faced the restaurant where his father would later be gunned down.
Harriet Bridgeman, 28, and Thomas Mithan, 35, both from Bristol, and Harry Simpson, 33, from South London , yesterday learnt their court battle to try to block extradition to face trial in Albania had failed when they appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court
He said: ‘The next day I was eating with him at the same table. I was eating beans and Simpson said: ‘let me try this traditional Albanian food.’
‘He took his spoon and started eating the beans from my plate.
‘I told my mother that man looks a bit strange.
‘Ardian said, ‘don’t worry son, he’s just a tourist, you don’t have to worry about him.’
On the third day, after finishing his pizza and beer in the restaurant, Simpson picked up his tray and tried to carry it behind a curtain in the hotel restaurant where staff and family worked, she said.
‘Ardian said to him, ‘don’t worry, leave it on the table, you’re on holiday.
‘But Simpson was very curious to know what was behind the curtain.’
The alleged gunman Ruben Saraiva, a Portuguese born British resident, was also spotted lurking in a stairwell close to the scene of the shooting in the days leading up to it.
Local children reported seeing a ‘strange man hanging around all the time’ and one was able to provide a detailed drawing after the murder, relatives said.
Nikulaj is believed to have been targeted because he is accused of gunning down a rival family member in 1997- itself said to be as revenge for the murder of his elder brother after a row over a £5 petrol payment which began the feud. The Nikulaj family deny he was a killer.
Saraiva is already in Albania awaiting trial for murder after being arrested in Morocco where he allegedly fled after the attack.
The Judge said: ‘The Government of Albania’s case is that Edmond Haxhia organised the shooting of Ardian Nikolaj by Reuben Saraiva on 19 April 2023 and that the other requested persons, Steven Hunt, Thomas Mithan, Harriet Bridgeman and Harry Simpson were involved in observations of the victim’s movements in the days leading up to the shooting, and in Simpson’s case on the day of the shooting itself, and that each of them played a part in the planning and execution of the murder.’
