What happened to Shakira Spencer? 3 people accused of torturing, abusing, and starving mother to death imprisoned for life

Shakira Spencer, a 35-year-old mother of two, was tortured, abused, starved, and left to die by people she considered friends. Spencer, who belonged to Ealing, London, faced the most gruesome of cruelties by three individuals.

BBC reports that Ashana Studholme, Lisa Richardson, and Shaun Pendlebury have now been jailed for at least 34 years for the murder of Shakira Spencer. Spencer was first befriended by Ashana Studholme.

All three of them denied murdering Spencer but were convicted on December 11, 2023. Judge Angela Rafferty said the three individuals subjected her to an "orgy of violence."

Guardian reports that Rafferty further said,

"I am of no doubt that you all intended to kill Shakira. She was no match for the three of you. None of you took any responsibility, and you continue to blame each other to this day – you have no remorse. This was a sadistic campaign in which you all took pleasure in inflicting pain and suffering on a vulnerable woman."

Judge Rafferty added that Shakira Spencer was vulnerable and trusting, which was exploited and abused by the three individuals.

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What happened to Shakira Spencer?

Sky News reports that Shakira Spencer was healthy size 16 in 2021. But, it all changed after Ashana Studholme became her neighbor the same year. Soon, Studholme took control of Spencer's life and isolated her from her family.

She was prostituted, and the trio took control of her house and finances. Spencer would be woken up and forced to do household chores for the abusers and do their errands.

As per Sky News, over several months, Spencer was subjected to torture, beatings, and dehumanizing treatment by Ashana Studholme, 39, her partner, Shaun Pendlebury, 26, and their friend, Lisa Richardson.

Sky News reports that Prosecutor Allison Hunter KC said,

"By July 2022 Shakira Spencer was just skin and bone. Gaunt and skeletal, bruised from head to foot, with hollowed black eyes. She was barely a scrawny size six in images taken by the defendants just before she died."

She also spoke about the torture that was inflicted on Spencer,

"For whatever was their unfathomable, cruel, sadistic motive, these three defendants tormented, tortured, starved, burned and eventually battered Shakira Spencer to death."

As per BBC, Spencer was humiliated and degraded and was given nothing to eat but ketchup sachets. In September 2022, the murderers reportedly abused her by pouring hot water on her and burning her face with a blowtorch. Her head was hit with a blunt object and later, she was driven to her home and tied in a cupboard. Her body was later left to deteriorate in a bunk bed. The killers then reportedly removed all the evidence of them being in Spencer's home and of Spencer being in theirs.

Spencer's body was discovered two weeks later after neighbors noticed maggots coming from her flat.

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How were Shakira Spencer's killers caught?

The night Spencer's body was discovered, police received a call from one of Shaun Pendelbury's relatives. Pendelbury had allegedly confessed to murdering a woman with Studholme and Richardson.

As per the Guardian, the killers were arrested, which led to their phones being seized. The review of their phones led to a lot of evidence, which further led to them being proven guilty of the crime. There were several messages in which the killers had texted each other and also sadistic videos hurting Spencer while the trio laughed. Further, the police also analyzed thousands of hours of CCTV, which showed the sad condition of Spencer in the last few months.

Netizens have expressed shock about the inhumane murder of Spencer. Some of the reactions are as follows.

Shakira Spencer's family has expressed huge sorrow of what she went through. Judge Spencer shared that Spencer's son experienced the pain of not having the chance to bid her goodbye. He was haunted by her dying alone and unloved.

Spencer's father, Lloyd Camacho, said that the death of his daughter had torn the family. Spencer's mother compared the trio with a pack of animals.