Women jailed for life for murdering 'kind' Sheffield man in 'sadistic' attack at his home

Two women have been jailed for a combined total of 52 years for the ‘callous’ and ‘sadistic’ murder of a Sheffield man.

60-year-old Stephen Mark Koszyczarski died in the early hours of August 11, 2023, after being found seriously injured at his home in Fraser Drive, Woodseats, Sheffield, around 30 hours earlier, on the evening of August 9. 

Jurors convicted Stephen’s neighbours, Zoe Rider, aged 36, and 45-year-old Nicola Lethbridge of his murder, during a Sheffield Crown Court trial, which concluded in May 2024.

Duing a Sheffield Crown Court hearing held this morning (Wednesday, June 5, 2024), Judge Sarah Wright jailed Rider and Lethbridge for life for their attack upon Stephen, who was described by those closest to him as ‘kind,’ ‘generous’ and as someone with a ‘heart of gold’.

“On the 9th of August last year you were both clearly fuelled by drugs and probably alcohol. Having heard the evidence in the case I have absolutely no doubt that you went into Stephen’s flat together in order to threaten, attack and rob him, no doubt to finance further drug taking,” Judge Wright told the pair.

She continued: “You invaded his home, intent on helping yourself to his property by threatening and using violence against him. You set about him in the most brutal, heartless and despicable manner. You launched a vicious and extremely violent joint attack upon him. You exposed his genitals, threatened to mutilate him and shouted obscenities at him.

“You singularly failed to listen to his denials of the accusation or to offer him any compassion when he was clearly injured. The purpose of your attack was to steal from him and to humiliate, terrify and hurt him.”

Judge Wright fixed the minimum term each of the two murderers must serve behind bars during the 45-minute hearing, with both defendants told they must serve at least 26 years in prison.

Both women were also convicted of one count of robbery, relating to items taken from Stephen’s flat during the course of the attack, and Judge Wright sentenced them to 13 years’ imprisonment for the robbery, which will run concurrently to the murder sentence.

The jury of eight women and four men, six of whom returned to see the pair sentenced today, spent just one hour deliberating before finding Lethbridge and Rider guilty of murdering and robbing Stephen.

In a moving statement to the court, Stephen’s former partner and friend of 38 years, Mary Jones said: “Stephen was such a special man, he would help anyone. He had a heart of gold.”

“I will love, and miss, him forever.”

Another of Stephen’s friends, Donna Maw, the proprietor of Moor News in Sheffield, had known Stephen for 30 years, who visited Moor News to socialise around six times a week.

Ms Maw told the court that in the weeks running up to Stephen’s death, she noticed a marked change in him. She said Stephen gone from being ‘financially comfortable’ to ‘uncharacteristically short of money’ and also appeared ‘unkempt and wary’.

Following evidence heard during the trial, Judge Wright said she attributed Stephen’s ‘rapid decline’ to the two defendants.

“I have no doubt that you Zoe Rider had targeted him as someone you could exploit and had gone on to do so and that you Nicola Lethbridge had indulged in loud and intimidating behaviour towards Stephen keeping Stephen awake and frightening him.”

A ‘distressing’ video, recovered from Lethbridge’s mobile phone, was taken of Stephen in the midst of the fatal attack, in which he is recorded while he is naked from the waist down and bleeding from the nose.

Prosecutor Andrew O’Byrne KC previously told the jury that the attack upon Stephen was ‘sadistic’ and was : “The footage is distressing, in that it shows him with his genitals [out] and the defendants with scissors, threatening to mutilate him.”

During the course of the video, a female voice can be heard shouting: ‘Let’s chop it off, let’s chop it off’. 

Lethbridge and Rider also accused Stephen of being a paedophile in the video, but police and prosecutors have both stressed there is no evidence to support their claims. Judge Wright called the allegation ‘spurious’.

“The manner of his death and the very upsetting recording of part of the incident which was played during the trial is extremely traumatic for them and they will have to live with that for the rest of their lives,” Judge Wright said of the video.

Mr O’Byrne told the jury that Stephen was ‘vulnerable’ due to his ‘significant health problems,’ which included heart disease, epilepsy, thrombosis and diabetes, and he was fitted with an alarm in case of an emergency. 

After suffering 22 different injuries to his head, face and body, Stephen activated the alarm at around 11.20pm on the night of the fatal attack, and told the operator he ‘had been attacked’. 

“He said he didn’t want the police, but he did require an ambulance. While that conversation was taking place you could hear voices in the background. We say those voices were that of these two defendants,” Mr O’Byrne said.  

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An ambulance arrived at the scene ‘promptly’ at 11.38pm, but the crew were initially unable to assist Stephen because he was unable to open the front door in his injured state; and it was only after the fire service arrived at 12.06am that paramedics were able to gain access to his flat, the court heard.

Stephen was rushed to the emergency and critical care department of Northern General Hospital, where medics subsequently determined he had suffered ‘fatal and unsurvivable’ head injuries. Life support was ultimately withdrawn, after which time Stephen died at 6.08am on August 11, 2023, Mr O’Byrne told the jury.  

Summarising the conclusions of pathologist Dr Philip Lumb, who carried out Stephen’s post-mortem, Mr O’Byrne said Dr Lumb believed Stephen’s head injuries were a consequence of ‘sustained blunt force physical’ trauma, resulting in a ‘haematoma to his skull, which put pressure on the brain’. 

The jury were told that Dr Lumb determined that Stephen had also suffered a number of other injuries, including a broken nose, bruising to both eyes and his cheeks, as well as ‘major, substantial bruising’ to the left side of his torso and chest, which Dr Lumb is said to believe were ‘likely caused by kicks when the deceased was on the ground’.  

Ms Rider and Ms Lethbridge both lived in the same block of flats as Stephen, with Ms Lethbridge living on the same floor as him, and Ms Rider living on the top floor. 

Defending Lethbridge, James Hill KC said his client had a ‘terrible background’.

“I invite Your Honour to consider that background may have left her more vulnerable to the ravages of drug and alcohol addiction; and that, in turn, may have left her more vulnerable to being led by someone, who, on the face of it, may have been more criminally inclined,” continued Mr Hill.

John Ryder KC, defending Rider, told the court that during his client’s formative years, she experienced the ‘polar opposite of care and dependable guidance’.

“She was unwanted, unloved, uncared for at an extremely early age,” Mr Ryder said, adding: “Both parents savagely beat her, an activity by which her father’s older children joined. Those step-siblings made a serious attempt to hang her.”

Mr Ryder also told the court that his client was coerced at an early age into stealing by her mother to fund her drug habit, who introduced her to cannabis at the age of 12.

“It was all but inevitable that her later life would be characterised by features of violence and addiction,” he continued.

South Yorkshire Police said good ‘old fashioned’ police work, alongside in depth forensic and mobile phone analysis led to the pair being charged with, and ultimately convicted of, Stephen’s murder.

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Woodward, who led the investigation, said: “Stephen was described as a quiet man. Although he had a close circle of friends, he kept himself to himself and just went about his business. He didn’t cause any problems or hurt anyone and his death was callous.

“Lethbridge and Rider had not only subjected Stephen to mental torture and physical abuse but they humiliated him during the attack wrongly accusing him of being a paedophile which was simply not the case.”