Man who stabbed housemate to death after spying on her jailed for 25 years

A Heathrow worker who spied on his housemate with surveillance equipment before stabbing her to death has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 25 years.

Sheldon Rodrigues, 30, became angry and jealous after 39-year-old Stephanie Hansen rejected him and began seeing a married work colleague.

Rodrigues bought spy devices, sent an abusive message via Facebook under the name of chef Jamie Oliver and complained to the couple’s employer, aviation firm Swissport, prosecutors said.

He stabbed Ms Hansen to death in her bedroom at their house in Hayes, west London, on December 30 2022, later blaming her lover for the killing.

Sentencing at the Old Bailey on Friday, Judge Judy Khan KC said Rodrigues carried out a “campaign of harassment and intimidation”.

She said the attack was “sustained and ferocious”, and was “premeditated” due to his anger at Ms Hansen.

Fighting back tears, Glenda Hansen, the victim’s mother, told Rodrigues: “You took her life and you stole her future.”

Speaking about the murder trial, she went on: “You made us sit through weeks of torment and listen to your lies.”

Ms Hansen, who cleaned parks in her spare time, introduced the defendant to the family because she “trusted” him and they did too, the court heard.

Russel Hansen, the victim’s younger brother, who has served in the Army, said: “Our world has forever been altered, people tell me time will heal, I don’t believe them.”

Mr Hansen told the court of the feeling he “failed” to protect his sister.

Before the killing Rodrigues learned cargo agent Ms Hansen’s boyfriend, father-of-three Celso Cabillan, had visited her at the house.

Rodrigues had been working a night shift for another cargo company near Heathrow and was listening in on the couple’s “most intimate moments” with a Micromax phone hidden in the living room, it was claimed.

At around 7am, after arriving home, he “exploded with rage and brutally attacked” Ms Hansen, who was still in pyjamas in her bedroom.

The defendant stabbed her repeatedly in the neck and battered her over the head and face with a hairdryer and large fan with “severe force”, jurors were told during the trial.

Rodrigues and Ms Hansen had some intimacy several years before but she was not interested in carrying it on, preferring to be friends instead.

He appeared not to accept her rejections, even offering to have surgery to alter his looks, the court heard.

In April 2021, the pair moved into the house in Willenhall Drive to share bills, and by late 2022, Ms Hansen was in a relationship with Mr Cabillan.

Rodrigues spent 158 hours listening in on Ms Hansen while he was at work or visiting India, where he was born, averaging three hours a day, it was claimed.

He bought a “spy camera” device designed to make secret recordings inside the house and monitor Ms Hansen’s new relationship.

A “spy plug” covert listening device was also found on a shelf in the defendant’s bedroom.

He claimed the recording devices were set up for Ms Hansen’s safety.

In November 2022, he emailed Swissport under a fake name to complain that Mr Cabillan was “loitering” about and trying to have an “affair” with his partner.

On December 8, the defendant allegedly used the name Jamie Oliver to message Ms Hansen’s boyfriend on Facebook saying his girlfriend and child would be kidnapped.

Two days later, he paid a man £100 to drive him around in a car and follow Mr Cabillan, it was alleged.

The defendant claimed Mr Cabillan was the murderer and even wrote a letter to Swissport saying: “He killed my housemate Stephanie Hansen the night he stayed at the house. I found her upon returning home.”

Rodrigues had denied murder but was convicted in January.