The last alarming conversation Sheffield cafe owner had with a friend before he was murdered by sadistic women

One of the last people to speak to Stephen Koszyczarski hours before he was tragic KILLED he said he “didn’t look good” and “wasn’t himself”.

Stephen was robbed and brutally beaten by neighbors who lived in his flat in Fraser Drive, Sheffield. Zoe Rider and Nicola Lethbridge tortured Stephen and filmed part of the attack. They were found guilty of robbery and murder at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday (May 16).

Stephen, 60, visited the Moor News, owned by his friend Donna Moor, every day he was in town. The newsagents, which also offer food and hot drinks as well as outdoor seating, are located at the bottom of The Moor. in Sheffield city centre.

Read more: Sadistic cold-blooded killers exposed: pain-hungry women who tortured and beat Sheffield man to death pictured for first time

Donna, who has known Stephen for 30 years, was one of the last people to speak to Stephen on the day he was killed. She had been away in Belfast visiting family and it was the first time she had spoken to Stephen in weeks.

When Donna, 64, returned from Ireland on Monday (August 7), her colleague informed her that Stephen had set up a board to pay for his food and drink that week – something which was ‘unusual’ for him to do. The colleague also mentioned to her that Steven expressed having “issues” with his neighbors. “It was weird, but I thought I’d let him tell me too,” Donna explained.

“That day (August 9) all his friends went shopping so I thought I’d go and have a coffee with him. I said ‘you don’t look good Stephen, what about you?'”

Donna told him he wasn’t sleeping and was “having problems” with his neighbors. She advised him not to open his door if they started bothering him again that night. “Then he started talking about setting up the tab and said he had a lot of bills – but I didn’t think that was true,” she said.

“Stephen had never been short of money before. That day he didn’t have any so after I convinced myself I lent him £55.”

Donna, who has owned the cafe for 12 years, explained that Stephen often went there to meet friends and stay with her until closing time. She said: “The last time I saw Stephen was when I was closing up behind my shop at 6pm. I saw him waiting for the bus and ran to get mine and said “see you tomorrow”.

The next day (August 10), Donna received a call from one of her neighbors informing her that they had seen Stephen being taken away in the back of an ambulance. “I thought it might have been his heart again because he recently had open heart surgery – but the neighbor said it looked like he might have had a beating.”

Donna called the hospital and explained that Stephen, who had been placed as a baby, had no other family. She was allowed to visit him, but he later died of his injuries on 11 August.

Donna was told that Stephen had been beaten, but she didn’t learn how horrific Stephen’s death was until the evidence came out in court. “Hearing what happened was heartbreaking. It upsets me so much. I just couldn’t believe it. It made me feel bad.

“I saw her injuries in the hospital and I couldn’t believe that two women could do this. It was awful.”

Donna believes the women responsible for robbing and killing Stephen are the same neighbors who had “tormented” him in the weeks leading up to his death. She explained: “One of them lived across the street. Personally, I think from the day they moved in they tortured him – beating him and keeping him awake.”

“I think they could have taken money from him. In the 30 years I’ve known Stephen, he’s never been short of money – never.

“I think maybe what happened the night he was killed is that he didn’t have any money to give them and that’s why they robbed him and hurt him. But no one will ever know what really happened or how long ago it happened.”

She described Stephen as a “very quiet, private man”. She continued: ‘It’s awful – no man deserves this, but Stephen was a vulnerable man, he never hurt anyone – he was a friend to everyone. To go through open heart surgery and a stroke and then for this to happen, it’s awful.”

On Thursdaythe jurors lasted just two hours and 35 minutes to find Zoe Rider, 36, and Nicola Lethbridge, 45, both of Fraser Drive, guilty of robbing and murdering Stephen Koszyczarski on August 9 last year. The monstrous duo tortured Stephen and filmed part of the attack.

During the trial from Sheffield Crown Court, jurors watched footage of the pair taunting Stephen as they robbed and assaulted him. Part of the footage has been played at the opening in April, and in it, they could be heard hurling terrible abuse at the defenseless Stephen.

Stephen was caught on CCTV footage as he made his way home, but at 11.20pm that night, he pressed a button on a lanyard which activated an alarm used to assist those with health problems. Mr O-Byrne said: “He spoke to an operator and asked for assistance. He told them he had been attacked and was bleeding.”

Stephen was taken to hospital but died on August 11. A post-mortem examination revealed that Stephen died from what the pathologist described as “a sustained blunt physical attack and a haemorrhage to the skull”.

Donna added: “Stephen is at peace and I hope he rots for the rest of his life. I hope they get a very long sentence – I don’t think they should ever be allowed out.”

Lethbridge and Rider will be sentenced on June 5.

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