A Maidstone Crown Court jury found Musa Salih guilty of murdering Harley Purdue in a Chatham basement stabbing.

Thursday's murder verdict is what the jury found after a multi-week trial. Sentencing is still ahead. Kent Police said Salih lured Purdue to a communal basement intending to lock him in a toilet and steal from his bedroom, then stabbed him eight times after an altercation.

Kent Police said that on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2026, Musa Salih, 19, of Launceston Road, Greenford, an Eritrean national, was found guilty of murder at Maidstone Crown Court after denying the offense. BBC News, Kent Online, and My London reported the same verdict. He is due to be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. Kent Police and BBC News reported he was also on trial for wounding with intent and was found not guilty of that count. Kent Online reported the murder verdict was by majority after a juror was discharged earlier in the week.

According to Kent Police, around 3 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2025, Salih lured Harley Purdue, 19, to the communal basement of an address on Thorold Road, Chatham, intending to lock him in a toilet and then steal money from Purdue's bedroom. An altercation followed after Salih tried to trap Purdue in the toilet, and Salih stabbed Purdue eight times, Kent Police said. Kent Online reported Purdue sustained multiple wounds, including one that punctured his lung and heart, and that the cause of death was a stab wound to the chest. Kent Police said Purdue's girlfriend intervened and Salih attempted to injure her before fleeing the house and the Medway area.

Kent Police said Salih was arrested later the same day in Lewisham. A review of his phone showed he had asked an AI app for legal advice and updates about the incident, Kent Police said. Kent Online reported he searched online about self-defense and remand, sought advice from ChatGPT, and later searched for news of a Chatham stabbing. Detective Sergeant Alastair Worton said the plan to steal Purdue's money in the middle of the night while armed with a knife resulted in the death of a young man, and that investigators tracked Salih to London. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Salih was presumed innocent through the trial; Thursday's murder verdict is the jury's finding, and sentencing has not yet been imposed.