Tributes have been paid to two “highly valued” sisters brutally murdered in a Kingsbury Park.
Bibaa Henry, 46, and Nicole Smallman, 27, were found dead five minutes from the Valley Drive entrance to Fryent Country Park on June 7.
They had been celebrating Bibaa’s birthday in the park with a group of friends from around 7pm on June 5 and reported missing the next day.
Their bodies were found with multiple stab wounds on June 7.
The two women were the daughters of Wilhelmina Smallman, the Church of England’s first black archdeacon who represented Southend until 2016.
Rt Revd Peter Hill, acting Bishop of Chelmsford, said the parish was “devastated to hear of the tragic deaths” of the sisters.
“Nicole and Bibaa were the daughters of our former Archdeacon and good friend Mina Smallman and were highly valued friends in their communities and colleagues in their workplaces,” he said.
“This is heart breaking news and the thoughts and prayers of everyone at Chelmsford Diocese are with Mina, Chris and the family. We ask that their privacy is respected and for everyone’s prayers at this most difficult of times.”
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Mum-of-one Bibaa, who lived in Brent, was a senior social worker working for Buckinghamshire Council.
Mark Shaw, lead member for Buckinghamshire’s children’s services, said: “We are all deeply shocked and distressed at the tragic news about our colleague Bibaa Henry.
“Bibaa was a well-respected, well-liked and highly-valued member of our children’s services social care team.
“She was committed to caring for and supporting children and young people across Buckinghamshire. She will be very much missed by all of us here at the council.
“On behalf of everyone at Buckinghamshire Council, we would like to convey our heartfelt condolences to Bibaa’s family, friends and colleagues at this most difficult of times.”
Nicole, 27, who lived in Harrow, had recently started working at BALL Events and Promotions.
Human resources manager Patricia Pestesa said: “Nicole was truly a joy to be around. She had such a bubbly personality, she was a genuinely kind and caring person with always ready to help anyone.
“We are all in complete shock over what happened to Nicole will be truly missed by us all. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Nicole’s family during this time. May her soul rest in eternal peace.”
Friends on Twitter paid tribute. @LMartinTRTD said: “Rip Nicole Smallman, proper bless person, harmless and always very kind and upbeat. Will definitely be missed by everyone she came into contact with.”
@MissPaisleyxo said: “I’m in shock rn. RIP Nicole Smallman you we’re always such a joy to be around. Your energy was beautiful, kind and infectious.”
Due to blood found at the sceene, police believe the sisters were killed by “a person unknown to them”, who suffered an injury which may now be bandaged.
On June 10 a 36-year-old man was arrested in south London on suspicion of murder and was released with no further action.
Det Ch Insp Simon Harding said there is no clear motive and that police do not yet understand exactly what happened.
He said: “We have eliminated everybody at the party and others from our enquiries and at this stage, I am certain they (the perpetrator) were not known to them (the victims).”
He appealed for anyone with any information to come forward.
“We are still in an important phase of our investigation,” he said. “It’s fast moving and we are still working on this around the clock but we need the public’s help. People need to sit down and focus on what they remember.”
A litter-picking volunteer inadvertently threw away property from the scene and last week officers spent five days sifting through rubbish at a waste centre to recover items, any of which could contain critical forensic evidence.
Det Ch Insp Harding said: “We had to take a bit of a punt on it, because it could go to any of the rubbish sites and sometimes they are transported between them, so we were lucky that working on where we thought it might go, we picked the right place.”
Police will be conducting extra patrols around the area in light of the killings.
Anyone with information can call police on 020 8721 4205 or 101, or tweet @MetCC quoting CAD 3160/7Jun.
Crimestoppers take anonymous calls on 0800 555 111.
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