British Hitman Receives Life Sentence for Albanian Hotel Assassination
A hitman raised in the Home Counties has been jailed for life without parole after gunning down an Albanian businessman in what prosecutors describe as a £1 million blood feud assassination allegedly organised from the United Kingdom. Ruben Saraiva, who grew up in Reading, Berkshire from age four, was disguised as a delivery driver when he entered a five-star hotel in a Balkan seaside resort and shot Ardian Nikulaj six times.
Elaborate Plot and International Manhunt
The ruthless killer had flown from London to Albania two months before the April 2023 attack as the key member of an alleged British hit squad that prosecutors say included a young mother from Bristol. Amid tight security at Lezhe Court in Northern Albania, Senior Judge Lirim Bulica told Saraiva he would spend the rest of his life in a high-security prison after finding him guilty of premeditated murder in collaboration with others and illegal possession of weapons.
Dressed in a black Nike tracksuit as he stood just yards from his victim's wife, Saraiva shook his head in the glass-fronted dock as the judgement was delivered. The murder was allegedly masterminded by a member of a rival Albanian family now based in the UK who suspected father-of-four Nikulaj of killing one of their relatives as part of a blood feud between families that has lasted nearly three decades and already claimed nine lives.
British Assassins Selected for Surprise Element
Prosecutors allege the Britons were specifically selected to carry out the operation because, while Nikulaj was on alert for potential local assassins, he would never have suspected danger from visitors from England. Saraiva laid in wait in a nearby stairwell of an apartment block for several days while other Britons checked into Nikulaj's newly opened hotel in the seaside resort of Shengjin in northern Albania.
These individuals allegedly posed as tourists to spy on Nikulaj and his family, who also worked at the hotel. They are said to have accepted free meals from their unsuspecting victim, chatted with his wife, and befriended his then 13-year-old son as they tracked their target's movements before one gave the signal for Saraiva to strike.
Chilling CCTV Footage and International Escape Attempt
Horrific CCTV footage captured the moment the now 30-year-old gunman—dressed in a high-visibility jacket, motorbike helmet, and surgical mask—walked into the hotel's bar, brandished a Soviet-made pistol, and opened fire. Saraiva fled the murder scene on a motorbike and crossed the border on foot from Albania to Greece hours later, but was arrested after subsequently entering Morocco on fake documents and extradited to Albania to face trial.
While it remains unknown how much Saraiva was offered for his role in the operation, Nikulaj's family revealed they had been warned previously that other potential local assassins had turned down almost £1 million to kill him. Saraiva was born to Portuguese parents who emigrated to the UK when he was four years old, splitting his time between his father's home in Reading and his mother's home in South London.
Blood Feud Tradition and Ongoing Legal Proceedings
Despite living most of his life in the UK, his parents never applied for citizenship, so he remains a Portuguese citizen. On February 14, 2023, he was collected from Tirana airport by British-Albanian Edmond Haxhia, who is accused of organising the gang to target Nikulaj. Haxhia, who lives in Birmingham, is the first cousin of two men from the Lekstakaj family, which is embroiled in the long-running blood feud with the Nikulaj family.
Under Albanian blood feud tradition, a family must avenge a relative's murder by killing a male member of the killer's family, who then must do the same in return, creating an ongoing cycle of bloodshed. Nikulaj is believed to have been targeted because he is accused of gunning down a Lekstakaj family member in 1997—itself said to be revenge for the murder of his elder brother after a dispute over a £15 petrol payment that began the feud.
Other Suspects and Family Statement
Haxhia and the other Britons accused of being part of the surveillance team—Harriet Bridgeman, 28; Thomas Mithan, 35; Steven Hunt, 50, all from Bristol; and Harry Simpson, 33, from South London—returned to the UK shortly before or immediately after the shooting. They were later arrested and are currently awaiting judgment in their appeal against extradition to Albania to face trial, with all denying involvement in the attack.
In a statement, the Nikulaj family welcomed the hearing as "a step forward in delivering justice for Ardian" but expressed concern at the delay in extraditing other suspects from the UK. They added: "The brutality of Ardian's execution with six bullets by Ruben Saraiva, who is now convicted by the Albanian justice, is a wound that will never heal—especially for Ardian's children, who are growing up without the warmth of their father."
The family emphasized there would be "no full justice for Ardian and no peace for the Nikulaj family" unless those who ordered and financed the murder are "identified and brought to justice." Outside court, Saraiva's solicitor Kujtim Cakrani said he planned to appeal the life sentence.
