A married man who fatally knifed his pregnant girlfriend has been found guilty of murder and child destruction.
Filmon Andmichaen, 31, killed 26-year-old Liwam Bereket in woodland off Freeth Street, Ladywood, Birmingham, on August 1 last year because their unborn baby was a “complication he was unwilling to accept”, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Jurors deliberated for nearly three and a half hours before returning unanimous guilty verdicts on Wednesday at Andmichaen’s second trial.
The first trial collapsed in March due to issues surrounding the child destruction count, which were resolved by the Court of Appeal and remained on the indictment that was put before jurors in the second trial.
Ms Bereket was found in an area of overgrown bushes in Birmingham (Jacob King/PA)
The first trial heard that Andmichaen, of Haddon Road in Great Barr, called 999 at 9.45pm, one-and-a-half hours after Ms Bereket is believed to have been stabbed in the neck, and told the call handler he had killed his girlfriend “by mistake” and had also tried to kill himself.
Andmichaen asked the call handler to send officers to his address and he would show them where she was.
Prosecutor Sandip Patel KC told the jury the defendant “must have known Liwam’s condition was perilous and that time was of the essence and yet he expressed a desire for the emergency services to go to him first”.
When Ms Bereket was eventually found, face down and bleeding from her neck in an area of overgrown bushes, an emergency Caesarean section was carried out to try to save her baby girl but she was stillborn.
Mr Patel said while the injury to Ms Bereket’s neck was very serious she would not have died immediately and may have been able to “walk or run around before collapsing”.
Instead of immediately calling 999, Andmichaen was captured on CCTV walking towards a nearby canal with a bag in his hand after the stabbing.
He was then spotted without the bag as he walked back to his car, a white Toyota Yaris, before turning around and heading back towards the canal.
Mr Patel said Andmichaen may have been trying to get rid of evidence and the knife used in the stabbing was never found.
Andmichaen called 999 and asked officers be sent to his address before he would show them where his pregnant girlfriend was (Jacob King/PA)
He was also seen returning to the scene of the stabbing with his brother, who later told police he was concerned after seeing Andmichaen with wet clothes and urged him to call 999 if he had committed a crime.
The court heard the defendant had previously told Ms Bereket, who was enjoying her pregnancy despite suffering morning sickness, to terminate the baby because he already had a wife and children – something that left her upset.
Andmichaen’s wife, who came to live with him in Haddon Road from Uganda after they met on Facebook in September 2021, had no idea about Ms Bereket and said their marriage had been “good”.
Andmichaen and his wife were married in January 2022.
The court heard that friends of Ms Bereket were concerned that Andmichaen was verbally abusive and threatening, and a neighbour in Haddon Road told police he had seen the defendant punching her in the face months before she was stabbed.
Ms Bereket’s bank cards and phone were found after her death in a bag in the boot of Andmichaen’s car with his fingerprints on them.
Mr Patel said during the first trial: “The defendant’s fingerprints were found on her phone.
“He said the death of Ms Bereket and his child was a terrible accident and not deliberate.
“Ms Bereket did not die instantly and in fact showed some signs of life two hours after being wounded but the defendant did not call for help.
“He took her phone, which we say was intended to prevent her seeking help as we know timely medical intervention may have saved her life.
“We say the defendant knew his actions would amount to the death of them both.
“He couldn’t possibly have Liwam alive because she would identify him as the person who tried to kill her and he delayed in calling for help and disposed of the knife which would have had his DNA and her blood on it.
“This is a case of grave consequences.
“It ended the life of a young, innocent woman and the unborn child she nourished inside her.
“The facts are as simple as they are gruesome.
“Filmon Andmichaen made a chilling decision, he decided the life growing inside his girlfriend was a complication he was unwilling to accept.
“He decided his solution to this was a permanent one.”
Andmichaen, who appeared in the dock alongside an interpreter who translated the proceedings into Tigrinya, a language spoken in east Africa, kept his hands clasped in front of him as the jury returned their verdicts.
Judge Mr Justice Choudhury KC thanked the jury for their hard work during the trial and said he would sentence Andmichaen on Wednesday afternoon.